FT    OF 
E  Ko^^ATHEE 


I 


THE  SOLITARY  OF  JUAN  FERNANDEZ, 


OR 


THE  REAL   ROBINSON  CRUSOE. 


\ 


TEE 


SOLITARY  OF  JUAN  FERNANDEZ; 


OR, 


^HE  REAL  ROBINSON  CRUSOE. 


BY  THE  AUTHOR  OF  PICCIOLA. 
TRANSLATED    FROM    THE    FRENCH 

BY 

ANNE    T.  WILBUR. 


BOSTON: 
TICKNOR,    REED,    AND    FIELDS 

MDCCCLI. 


/r  / 

.4 . 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1851,  by 

TICKNOR,    REED,    AND    FIELDS, 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  District  of  Massachusetts. 


m^4'0yu    '^O.tUir 


TUUliiiTuS,   TOUKY,   AND    EMERSON,   PRINTERS. 


CONTEiNfTS. 


CHAPTER   I. 

The  Royal  Salmon.  —  Pretty  Kitty.  —  Captain  Stradling. — 
"William  Dampier.  —  Reveries  and  Caprices  of  Miss  Cathe- 
rine  1-10 


CHAPTER  n. 

Alexander  Selkirk.  —  The  College. —  First  Love.  —  Eight 
Years  of  Absence.  —  Maritime  Combats.  —  Return  and  De- 
parture.—  The  Swordfish 11-21 

CHAPTER    HI. 

The  Tour  of  the  World.  —  The  Way  to  manufacture  Negroes. 
—  California.  —  The  Eldorado.  — Revolt  of  Selkirk.  — The 
Log-Book.  —  Degradation.  —  A  Free  Shore.  .     .     .    22-34 


CHAPTER  IV. 

Inspection  of  the  Country.  —  Marimonda.  —  A  City  seen 
through  the  Fog.  —  The  Sea  every  where.  —  Dialogue  with 
a  Toucan.  —  The  first  Shot.  —  Declaration  of  War. — Ven- 
geance.—  A  Terrestrial  Paradise 35-47 


rr  •-:  7 


VI  CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  Y. 

Labors  of  the  Colonist.  —  His  Study.  —  Fishing.  —  Adminis- 
tration. —  Selkirk  Island.  —  The  New  Prometheus.  —  What 
is  wanting  to  Happiness.  —  Encounter  with  Marimonda.  — 
Monologue 48-56 


CHAPTER  VI. 

The  Hammock.  —  Poison.  —  Success. — A  Calm  under  the 
Tropics.  —  Invasion  of  the  Island.  —  War  and  Plunder. — 
The  Oasis.  —  The  Spy-Glass.  —  Reconciliation.       .     57-66 


CHAPTER  VH. 

A  Tete-a-tete.  — The  Monkey's  Goblet.  —  The  Palace.  —  A  Re- 
moval. —  Winter  under  the  Tropics  — Plans  for  the  Future. 
—  Property.  —  A  burst  of  Laughter.  —  Misfortune  not  far 
off-       67-77 


CHAPTER  VIIL 

A  New  Invasion.  —  Selkirk  joyfully  meets  an  ancient  Ene- 
my. —  Combat  on  a  Red  Cedar.  —  A  Mother  and  her  Little 
Ones.  —  The  Flock.  —  Fete  in  the  Island  ;  Pacific  Combats, 
Diversions  and  Swings.  —  A  Sail.  —  The  Burning  Wood.  — 
Presentiments  of  Marimonda 78-92 


CHAPTER  IX. 

The  Precipice,  — A  Dungeon  in  a  Desert  Island.  —  Resigna- 
tion. —  The  passing  Bird.  —  The  browsing  Goat.  —  The 
bending  Tree.  — Attempts  at  Deliverance.  —  Success. — 
Death  of  Marimonda 93-103 


CONTENTS.  VU 


CHAPTER  X. 

Discouragement.  —  A  Discovery.  —  A  Retrospective  Glance.  — 
Project  of  Suicide.  —  The  Last  Shot.  —  The  Sea  Serpent. — 
The  Porro.—A.  Message.  —  Another  Solitary.    .     104 - 110 


CHAPTER  XI. 

The  Island  of  San  Ambrosio.  —  Selkirk  at  last  knows  what 
Friendship  is.  —  The  Raft.  —  Visits  to  the  Tomb  of  Mari- 
monda.  —  The  Departure.  —  The  two  Islands.  —  Shipwreck. 
—  The  Port  of  Safety 111-119 


CHAPTER  XII. 

The  Island  of  Juan  Fernandez.  —  Encounter  in  the  Moun- 
tains. —  Discussion.  —  A  New  Captivity.  —  A  Cannon-shot. 
—  Dampier  and  Selkirk.  —  Mas  a  Faera.  —  News  of  Strad- 
ling.  —  Confidences.  —  End  of  the  History  of  the  real  Rob- 
inson Crusoe. —  Nebuchadnezzar 120-135 

Conclusion 136-14.1 


THE  SOLITAPiY  OP  JUAN  FERNANDEZ, 


OR 


THE   REAL   ROBINSON   CRUSOE 


CHAPTER    I. 


The  Royal  Salmon.  —  Pretty  Kitty.  —  Captain  Stradling. — 
William  Dampier. — Reveries  and  Caprices  of  Miss  Cathe- 
rine. 

About  the  commencement  of  the  last  century,  the 
little  town  of  St.  Andrew,  the  capital  of  the  county  of 
Fife,  in  Scotland,  celebrated  then  for  its  University, 
was  not  less  so  for  its  Inn,  the  Royal  Salmon,  which, 
built  in  1681  by  a  certain  Andrew  Felton,  had  de- 
scended as  an  inheritance  to  his  only  daughter,  Cathe- 
rine. 

This  young  lady,  known  throughout  the  neighbor- 
hood under  the  name  of  pretty  Kitty,  had  contributed 
not  a  little,  by  her  personal  charms,  to  the  success 
and  popularity  of  the  inn.  In  her  early  youth,  she 
had  been  a  lively  and  piquant  brunette,  with  black, 
glossy  hair,  combed  over  a  smooth  and  prominent 
forehead,  and  dark,  brilliant  eyes,  a  style  of  beauty 
much  in  vogue  at  that  period.     Though  tall  and  slen- 

1 


2  THE    S6LTTAIIY    OF    JUAN    FERNANDEZ, 

Jer  in  stature,  she  \va?,  as  our  ancestors  would  have 
said,  sufficiently  en  hon  iwint.  In  fine,  Kitty  merited 
her  surname,  and  more  than  one  laird  in  the  neighbor- 
hood, more  than  one  great  nobleman  even,  —  thanks 
to  the  familiarity  which  reigned  among  the  different 
classes  in  Scotland,  —  had  figured  occasionally  among 
her  customers,  caring  as  little  what  people  might  say 
as  did  the  brave  Duke  of  Argyle,  whom  Walter  Scott 
has  shown  as  conversing  familiarly  with  his  snuff 
merchant. 

At  present  Catherine  Felton  is  in  her  second  youth. 
By  a  process  common  enough,  but  which  at  first  ap- 
pears contradictory,  her  attractions  have  diminished 
as  they  developed  ;  her  waist  has  grown  thicker,  the 
roses  on  her  cheek  assumed  a  deeper  vermilion,  her 
voice  has  acquired  the  rough  and  hoarse  tone  of  her 
most  faithful  customers ;  the  slender  young  girl  is 
transformed  into  a  virago.  Fortunately  for  her,  at  the 
commencement  of  the  eighteenth  century,  and  espe- 
cially in  Scotland,  reputations  did  not  vanish  as  readily 
as  in  our  days.  Notwithstanding  her  increasing  size 
and  coarser  voice,  Catherine  still  remained  pretty 
Kitty,  especially  in  the  eyes  of  those  to  whom  she 
gave  the  largest  credit. 

Besides,  if  from  year  to  year  her  beauty  waned,  a 
circumstance  which  might  tend  to  diminish  the  attrac- 
ticms  of  her  establishment,  like  a  prudent  woman  she 
took  care  that  her  stock  of  ale  and  usquebaugh  should 
also  from  year  to  year  improve  in  quality,  to  preserve 
the  equilibrium. 

Undoubtedly  the  visits  of  lairds  and  great  noblemen 
at  her  bar  were   less  frequent  than  formerly,  but  all 


OR  THE  REAL  ROBINSON  CRUSOE.         3 

the  trades-people  in  town,  all  the  sailors  in  port,  from 
the  Gulf  of  Tay  to  the  Gulf  of  Forth,  still  patronized 
the  pretty  landlady. 

Meanwhile  Catherine  was  not  yet  married.  The 
gossips  of  the  town  were  surprised,  because  she  was 
rich  and  suitors  were  plenty  ;  they  fluttered  around 
her  constantly  in  great  numbers,  especially  when 
somewhat  exhilarated  with  wine.  When  their  gal- 
lantry  became  obtrusive,  Kitty  was  careful  not  to 
grow  angry  ;  she  would  smile,  and  lift  up  her  white 
hand,  tolerably  heavy,  till  the  offenders  came  to  order. 
Catherine  possessed  in  the  highest  degree  the  art  of 
restraining  without  discouraging  them,  and  always  so 
as  to  forward  the  interests  of  her  establishment. 

To  maintain  the  discipline  of  the  tavern,  neverthe- 
less, the  presence  of  a  man  was  desirable ;  she  under- 
stood this.  Besides,  the  condition  of  an  old  maid  did 
not  seem  to  her  at  all  inviting,  and  she  did  not  care  to 
wait  the  epoch  of  a  third  youth,  before  making  a 
choice.  But  what  would  the  unsuccessful  candidates 
say  ?  Would  not  this  decision  be  at  the  risk  of  kind- 
ling a  civil  war,  of  provoking  perhaps  a  general  deser- 
tion ?  Then,  too,  accustomed  as  she  was  to  command, 
the  idea  of  giving  herself  a  master  alarmed  her. 

She  was  vacillating  amid  all  these  perplexities, 
when  a  certain  sailor,  with  cold  and  reserved  man- 
ners, whose  face  bore  the  mark  of  a  deep  sabre  cut, 
and  who  had  for  some  time  past,  frequented  her  inn 
with  great  assiduity,  without  ever  having  addressed  to 
her  a  single  word,  took  her  aside  one  fine  morning 
and  said : 

'  Listen  to  me,  Kate,  and  do  not  reply  hastily.     I 


4  THE    SOLITARY    OF    JUAN    FERNANDEZ, 

came  here,  not  like  many  others,  attracted  by  your 
beautiful  eyes,  but  because  I  wished  to  obtain  recruits 
for  an  approaching  voyage  which  I  expected  to  under- 
take at  my  own  risk  and  peril.  I  do  not  know  how  it 
has  happened,  but  I  now  think  less  about  sailing ;  I 
seem  to  be  stumbling  over  roots.  Right  or  wrong,  I 
imagine  that  a  good  little  wife,  who  will  fill  my  glass 
while  I  am  tranquilly  smoking  my  pipe  before  a 
blazing  fire,  may  have  as  many  charms  as  the  best 
brig  in  which  one  may  sometimes  perish  with  hun- 
ger and  thirst.  Right  or  wrong,  I  imagine  to  myself 
again  that  the  prattle  of  two  or  three  little  monkeys 
around  me,  may  be  as  agreeable  as  the  sound  of  the 
wind  howling  through  the  masts,  or  of  Spanish  balls 
whistling  about  one's  ears.  All  this,  Kate,  signifies 
that  I  mean  to  marry ;  and  who  do  you  suppose  has 
put  this  pretty  whim  into  my  head  ?  who,  but  your- 
self?' 

Catherine  uttered  an  exclamation  of  surprise,  per- 
fectly sincere,  for  if  she  had  expected  a  declaration, 
it  was  certainly  not  from  this  quarter. 

'  Do  not  reply  to  me  yet,'  hastily  resumed  the  sailor ; 
'  he  who  pronounces  his  decree  before  he  has  heard 
the  pleader  and  maturely  reflected  on  the  case,  is  a 
poor  judge.  To  continue  then.  You  are  no  longer  a 
child,  Kate,  and  I  am  no  longer  a  young  man ;  you 
ajce  approaching  thirty  — ' 

At  these  words  the  pretty  Kitty  made  a  gesture  of 
surprise  and  of  denial. 

'  Do  not  reply  to  me  ! '  repeated  the  pitiless  sailor. 
'  You  are  thirty !  I  have  already  passed  another  barrier, 
but  not  long  since.     We  are  of  suitable  age  for  each 


OR  THE  REAL  ROBINSON  CRUSOE.  5 

Other.     The  man  should  always  have   traversed   the 
road  before  his  companion.     You  are  active  and  gen- 
teel ;    that  does   very  well   for   women.      You   have 
always  been  an  honest  girl,  that  is  better  still.     As  for 
me,  my  skin  is   not  so  white  as  yours,  but  it  is  the 
fault  of  a  tropic  sun.     It  is  possible   that  I  may  be  a 
little  disfigured  by  the  scar  on  my  cheek ;  but  of  this 
scar  I  am  proud  ;    I   had  the   honor  of  receiving  it, 
while  boarding  a  vessel,  from  the  hand   of  the  cele- 
brated Jean  Bart,  who,  after  having  on  that  occasion 
lost  a  fine  opportunity  of  being  honorably  killed,  has 
just  suffered  himself  to  die  of  a  stupid  pleurisy  ;  but  it 
is  not  of  him  but  of  myself  that  we  are  now  to  speak. 
After  having  fought  with  Jean  Bart,  I  have  made  a 
voyage  with  our  not  less  celebrated  William  Dampier, 
whom  I  may  dare  call  my  friend.     You  may  therefore 
understand,  Kate,  that  if  you  have  the  reputation  of  an 
honest  girl,  I  have  that  of  a  good  sailor.     The  name 
of  Captain    Stradling    is   favorably  known   upon   two 
oceans,  and  it  will  be  to  your  credit,  if  ever,  with  your 
arm    linked    in    mine,    we    walk    as    man   and    wife, 
through  any   port  of  England  or  Scotland.     I  have 
said.     Now,  look,  reflect;  if  my  proposition  suits  you, 
I  will  settle  for  life  on  terra  Jirma^  and  bid  adieu  to 
the  sea  ;  if  not,  I  resume  my  projected  expedition,  and 
it  will  be  to  you,  Kate,  that  I  shall  say  adieu.' 

Catherine  opened  her  mouth  to  thank  him,  as  was 
suitable,  for  his  good  intentions. 

'  Do  not  reply  to  me  ! '  interrupted   he  again  ;  '  in 
three  days  I  will  come  to  receive  your  decision.' 

And  he   went  out,  leaving  her  amazed  at  having 
listened  to  so  long  a  speech  from  one,  who  until  then. 


b  THE    SOLITARY    OF   JTJAN    FERNANDEZ, 

seated  motionless  in  a  distant  corner  of  the  room,  had 
always  appeared  to  her  the  most  rigid  and  silent  of 
seamen. 

That  very  day  Catherine  has  come  to  a  decision 
concerning  the  captain  ;  she  thinks  him  ugly  and 
disagreeable,  coarse  and  ignorant ;  he  has  dared  to 
tell  her  that  she  is  thirty  years  old,  and  she  will 
hardly  be  so  at  St.  Valentine's  Day,  which  is  six 
weeks  ahead,  at  least.  Besides  the  scar  which  he 
has  received  from  the  celebrated  Jean  Bart,  his  coun- 
tenance has  no  beauty  to  boast  of:  his  face  is  long 
and  pale,  his  temples  are  furrowed  with  wrinkles,  and 
his  lips  thick  and  heavy ;  his  eyebrows,  at  the  top  of 
his  forehead,  seem  to  be  lost  in  his  hair ;  his  eyes  are 
not  mates,  his  nose  is  one-sided  ;  his  form  is  perhaps 
still  worse  ;  he  walks  after  the  fashion  of  a  duck. 
Fie  !  can  such  a  man  be  a  suitable  match  for  the  rich 
landlady  of  the  Royal  Salmon,  for  the  beautiful  Kitty  ; 
for  her  who,  among  so  many  admirers  and  lovers,  has 
had  but  the  difficulty  of  a  choice  ? 

The  next  day  towards  nightfall,  Catherine,  seated 
in  her  bar,  in  the  large  leathern  arm-chair  which  served 
as  her  throne,  with  dreamy  and  downcast  brow,  and 
chin  resting  on  her  hand,  was  still  thinking  of  Captain 
Stradling,  but  her  ideas  had  assumed  a  different  aspect 
from  those  of  the  evening  before. 

"^he  was  saying  to  herself:  'If  he  has  thick  and 
heavy  lips,  it  is  because  he  is  an  Englishman  ;  if  he 
walks  like  a  duck,  it  is  because  he  is  a  sailor ;  if  he 
has  taken  me  to  be  thirty  years  old,  that  proves 
simply  that  he  is  a  good  physiognomist,  and  I  shall 
have  one  painful  avowal  the  less  to  make  after  mar- 


OR  THE  REAL  ROBINSON  CRUSOE.         7 

riage.  As  for  his  scar,  he  has  a  thousand  reasons  to 
be  proud  of  it,  and,  upon  close  examination,  it  is  not 
unbecoming.  It  would  be  very  difficult  for  me  to 
choose  a  husband,  on  account  of  the  discontented 
suitors  who  will  be  left  in  the  lurch  ;  but  I  will  relin- 
quish my  business,  and  that  will  put  an  end  to  all 
inconvenience.  He  is  rich,  so  much  for  the  profit ; 
he  is  a  captain,  so  much  for  the  honor.  Come,  come, 
Mistress  Stradling  will  have  no  reason  to  complain  ! ' 

At  this  moment,  Catherine  Felton  could  meditate 
quite  at  her  ease,  without  fear  of  being  noticed ;  for 
the  tobacco  smoke,  three  times  as  dense  and  abundant 
as  usual,  enveloped  her  in  an  almost  opaque  cloud. 
There  was  this  evening  a  grand  fete  at  the  tavern  of 
the  Royal  Salmon.  The  concourse  of  customers  was 
immense,  and  this  time,  it  was  neither  the  beauty  of 
the  hostess,  nor  the  quality  of  the  liquors  which  had 
attracted  them  thither. 

The  serving-men  and  lasses  were  going  from  table 
to  table,  multiplying  themselves  to  pour  out,  not  only 
the  golden  waves  of  strong  beer  and  usquebaugh,  but 
the  purple  waves  of  claret  and  port ;  all  faces  were 
smiling,  all  eyes  sparkling,  and  in  the  midst  of  the 
huzzas  and  vivas,  was  heard,  with  triple  applause, 
the  name  of  William  Dampier. 

This  celebrated  man,  now  a  corsair,  now  a  skilful 
seaman,  who  had  just  discovered  so  many  unknown 
straits  and  shores,  who  had  just  made  the  tour  of  the 
world  twice,  in  an  age  when  the  tour  of  the  world  did 
not  pass,  as  at  present,  for  a  trifling  matter ;  who  had 
published,  upon  his  return,  a  narrative  full  of  novel 
facts   and   observations ;    this   pitiless   and   intelligent 


8  THE    SOLITARY    OF    JUAN    FERNANDEZ, 

pirate,  who  studied  the  coasts  of  Peru  while  he  pil- 
laged the  cities  along  its  shores,  and  meditated,  in  the 
midst  of  tempests,  his  learned  theory  of  winds  and 
tides,  William  Dampier,  had  landed,  this  very  day  at 
the  little  port  of  St.  Andrew.  ' 

At  the  intelligence  of  his  arrival,  the  whole  mari- 
time population  of  the  coast  was  in  commotion  ;  the 
society  of  the  Old  Pilots,  with  that  of  the  Sea  Dogs, 
had  sent  to  him  deputations,  headed  by  the  principal 
ship-owners  in  the  town.  Captain  Stradling  had  not 
failed  to  be  among  them,  happy  at  the  opportunity  of 
once  more  meeting  and  embracing  his  former  friend. 
Speeches  were  made,  as  if  to  welcome  an  admiral, 
speeches  in  which  were  passed  in  review  all  his  noble 
qualities  and  the  great  services  rendered  by  him  to  the 
marine  interest.  To  these  Dampier  replied  with  sim- 
plicity and  conciseness,  saying  to  the  orators : 

'  Gentlemen  and  dear  comrades,  you  must  be  hoarse, 
let  us  drink  ! ' 

This  first  trait  of  eccentricity  could  not  fail  to  enlist 
universal  applause. 

Commissioned  by  him  to  lead  the  column,  Stradling 
could  not  do  otherwise  than  to  take  the  road  to  the 
Royal  Salmon.  It  was  on  this  occasion  that  he  ap- 
peared there  before  the  expiration  of  the  three  days : 
but  he  had  not  addressed  a  word  to  Catherine,  scarcely 
turned  his  eyes  towards  her.  Nevertheless  the  cir- 
cumstances were  favorable  to  his  suit. 

Then  a  millionaire,  William  Dampier  had  imme- 
diately declared  his  intentions  to  treat  at  his  own 
expense  the  whole  company  and  even  the  whole  town, 
if  the  town  would  do  him  the  honor  to  drink  with  him. 


OR  THE  REAL  ROBINSON  CRUSOE.  » 

Catherine  at  once  took  him  into  favor.  When  she 
heard  him  praise  his  friend  and  companion,  the  brave 
Captain  Stradling,  she  felt  for  the  latter,  not  an  emo- 
tion of  tenderness,  but  a  sentiment  of  respect  and  even 
of  good-will.  Dampier,  excited  by  his  audience,  did 
not  fail,  like  other  conquerors  by  land  and  sea,  to 
recount  some  of  his  great  deeds.  Among  others,  he 
recapitulated  a  certain  affair  in  which  he  and  his 
friend  Stradling  had  captured  a  Spanish  galleon,  laden 
with  piastres.  From  this  moment  the  beautiful  Kitty 
became  more  thoughtful,  and  began  to  see  that  the 
scar  was  becoming  to  the  face  of  this  good  captain. 
After  drinking,  when  Dampier,  still  escorted  by  his 
jidus  Achates^  came  to  settle  his  account  with  the 
hostess,  he  chucked  her  familiarly  under  the  chin,  as 
was  his  custom  with  landladies  in  the  four  quarters  of 
the  globe.  From  any  one  else,  the  proud  Catherine 
would  not  have  suffered  such  a  liberty  ;  to  this,  she 
replied  only  by  a  graceful  reverence,  and,  while  the 
hero  and  paymaster  of  the  fete  shook  a  rouleau  of 
gold  upon  her  counter,  she  said,  hastily  bending  to- 
wards Stradlinsc : 

'  To-morrow ! '  accompanying  this  word  with  an 
expressive  look  and  her  most  gracious  smile. 

The  enamored  Stradling,  always  impassible,  con- 
tented himself  with  replying : 

'  It  is  well ! ' 

The  day  following,  the  third,  the  important  day,  that 
which  Catherine  already  regarded  as  her  day  of  be- 
trothal, early  in  the  morning,  she  dressed  herself  in 
her  best  attire,  not  doubting  the  impatience  of  the 
captain.  Before  noon,  the  latter  entered  the  inn  and 
went  directly  up  to  the  landlady. 


10  THE    SOLITARY    OF    JUAN    FERNANDEZ, 

She  received  him  carelessly  and  coldly  ;  she  was 
nervous,  she  had  not  had  time  for  reflection  ;  she  did 
not  know  what  the  captain  wished  ;  if  he  would  let 
her  alone  for  the  present,  by  and  by  she  would  con- 
sider. 

'  Boy !  a  new  pipe  and  some  ale  ! '  exclaimed  Strad- 
ling,  addressing  a  waiter. 

And,  perfectly  calm  in  appearance,  he  sauntered  to 
his  accustomed  place  at  the  farther  end  of  the  bar- 
room. However,  before  leaving  the  Royal  Salmon, 
approaching  Catherine,  he  said : 

'  Yesterday,  by  your  voice  and  gesture  you  said,  or 
almost  said,  yes  ;  we  sailors  know  the  signals  ;  to-day 
it  is  no,  or  almost  no.  Very  well,  I  will  wait ;  but 
reflect,  my  beauty,  we  are  neither  of  us  young  enough 
to  lose  our  time  in  this  foolish  game.' 

But  what  h^d  thus  unexpectedly  changed,  from 
white  to  black,  the  good  intentions  of  Catherine  in 
the  captain's  behalf?  The  presence  of  a  young  boy 
whom  she  had  not  seen  for  many  years,  and  towards 
whom  she  had,  until  then,  felt  only  a  kindly  indif- 
ference. 


OR  THE  REAL  ROBINSON  CRUSOE.        11 


CHAPTER  II. 

Alexander  Selkirk.  —  The  College.  —  First  Love.  —  Eight 
Years  of  Absence.  —  Maritime  Combats.  —  Return  and 
Departnre.  —  The  Swordfish. 

Alexander  Selkirk,  —  the  name  of  the  principal 
personage  in  this  narrative,  —  was  born  at  Largo,  in 
the  county  of  Fife,  not  far  from  St.  Andrew.  Entered 
as  a  pupil  in  the  university  of  the  town,  he  at  first 
distinguished  himself  by  his  aptitude  and  his  intelli- 
gence, until  the  day  when,  hearing  of  the  beauty  of 
the  landlady  of  the  Royal  Salmon,  he  was  seized  with 
an  irresistible  desire  to  see  her :  he  saw  her,  and 
became  violently  enamored.  It  was  one  of  those 
youthful  passions,  springing  rather  from  the  efferves- 
cence of  the  age,  than  from  the  merit  of  the  object ; 
one  of  those  sudden  ebullitions  to  which  the  young 
recluses  of  science  are  sometimes  subject,  from  a 
prolonged  compression  of  the  natural  and  afTectionate 
sentiments. 

From  this  moment,  all  the  words  in  the  Greek  and 
Latin  dictionaries,  all  the  principles  of  natural  phi- 
losophy, mathematics  and  history,  suddenly  taken  by 
storm,  whirled  confusedly  and  pell-mell  in  the  head  of 
Selkirk,  like  the  elements  of  the  world  in  chaos,  before 
the  day  of  creation. 


12  THE    SOLITARY    OF    JUAN    FERNANDEZ, 

His  professors  had  predicted  tliat  at  the  annual 
exhibition  he  would  obtain  six  great  prizes  ;  he  ob- 
tained not  even  a  premium. 

As  a  punishment,  he  was  required  to  remain  within 
the  college  grounds  during  the'  vacation.  But  its  gates 
were  not  strong  enough,  nor  its  walls  high  enough  to 
detain  him. 

Condemned,  for  the  crime  of  desertion,  to  a  classic 
imprisonment,  he  was  shut  up  in  a  cellar  ;  he  escaped 
through  the  window ;  in  a  garret ;  he  descended  by  the 
roof. 

Then,  pronounced  incorrigible,  he  was  expelled 
from  the  university. 

He  left  it  joyous  and  happy,  escaped  from  the  tutor 
commissioned  to  conduct  him  to  his  father,  and  at  last 
wholly  free,  his  own  master,  he  took  lodgings  in  a 
cabin,  not  far  from  the  Royal  Salmon,  and  thought 
himself  monarch  of  the  universe. 

As  soon  as  the  doors  of  the  inn  were  opened,  he 
penetrated  there  with  the  earliest  fogs  of  mornino-, 
with  the  first  beams  of  day  ;  in  the  evening  he  was 
the  last  to  cross  the  threshold,  after  the  extinction  of 
the  lights. 

All  day  long,  seated  at  a  little  table  opposite  the 
bar,  between  a  pipe  and  a  pewter  pot,  he  watched  the 
movements  of  Kitty,  and  followed  her  with  admirino- 
eyes. 

Catherine  was  not  slow  to  perceive  this  new  passion  ; 
but  she  was  accustomed  to  admiring  eyes,  and  thej-e- 
fore  paid  but  little  heed  to  them.  She  was  then  at  the 
age  of  twenty-two,  in  all  the  glory  of  her  transient 
royalty ;  he,  scarcely  sixteen,  was  in  her  eyes  a  boy,  a 


OR  THE  REAL  ROBINSON  CRUSOE.         13 

raw  and  awkward  boy,  like  almost  all  the  other  stu- 
dents, and  she  contented  herself  with  now  and  then 
bestowing  a  slight  smile  upon  him,  in  common  with 
her  other  customers. 

But  this  mechanical  smile,  this  half  extinguished 
spark,  did  but  increase  the  flame,  by  kindling  in  the 
young  man's  soul  a  ray  of  hope. 

At  this  age,  passion  has  not  yet  an  oral  language  ; 
it  is  in  the  heart,  in  the  head  especially,  but  not  on  the 
lips ;  one  comprehends,  experiences,  dreams,  writes  of 
love  in  prose  and  verse,  but  does  not  talk  of  it.  Selkirk 
had  twenty  times  attempted  to  confess  his  affection  to 
Catherine  ;  he  had  as  yet  succeeded  only  in  a  few 
simple  and  hasty  meteorological  sentences,  on  the  rain 
and  fine  weather.     He  therefore  wrote. 

Unfortunately,  Catherine  could  not  easily  read  writ- 
ing ;  she  applied  to  him  to  interpret  his  letter.  This 
was  a  hard  task  for  the  poor  boy,  who,  with  a  trem- 
ulous and  hesitating  voice,  saw  himself  forced  to 
stammer  through  all  that  burning  phraseology  which 
seemed  to  congeal  under  the  breath  of  the  reader. 

The  result  however  was  that  Catherine  became  his 
friend  ;  she  encouraged  his  confidence,  and  gave  him 
good  advice  as  an  elder  sisler  might  have  done.  She 
even  called  him  by  the  familiar  name  of  Sandy,  which 
was  a  good  omen. 

Meanwhile  his  scanty  resources  became  exhausted  ; 
he  had  no  longer  means  to  pay  for  the  pot  of  ale 
which  he  consumed  daily.  The  idea  of  asking  credit 
of  his  beloved,  of  opening  with  her  an  account,  which 
he  might  never  have  means  to  pay,  was  revolting  to 
him.     On  the   other  hand,  the   thought  of  returning 


14  THE    SOLITARY    OF    JUAN    FERNANDEZ, 

home,  and  asking  pardon  of  his  father,  was  not  less 
repugnant  to  his  feelings.  He  was  endowed  with  one 
of  those  haughty  and  imperious  natures  which  recog- 
nize their  faults,  not  to  repair  them,  but  to  make  of 
them  a  starting  point,  or  even- a  pedestal. 

He  was  rambling  about  the  port,  reflecting  on  his 
unfortunate  situation,  when  he  heard  mention  made 
of  a  ship  ready  to  set  sail  at  high  tide,  and  which 
needed  a  reinforcement  of  cabin-boys  and  sailors. 
This  was  for  him  an  inspiration ;  he  did  not  hesitate, 
he  hastened  to  engage.  That  very  evening  he  had 
gained  the  open  sea,  beyond  the  Isle  of  May,  and, 
with  his  eyes  turned  towards  the  Bay  of  St.  Andrew, 
was  attempting,  in  vain,  to  recognize  among  the  lights 
which  were  yet  burning  in  the  city,  the  fortunate 
lantern  which  decorated  the  sacred  door  of  the  Royal 
Salmon. 

At  present,  Alexander  Selkirk  is  twenty-four  years 
old.  He  has  become  a  genuine  sailor,  and  he  loves 
his  profession ;  the  sea  is  now  his  beautiful  Kitty. 
Besides,  it  is  long  since  he  has  troubled  himself  about 
his  heart.  It  is  empty,  even  of  friendship,  for,  among 
his  numerous  companions,  the  proud  young  man  has 
not  found  one  worthy  of  him.  After  having  served 
two  years  in  the  merchant  marine,  he  has  entered  the 
navy.  Thanks  to  the  war  kindled  in  Europe  for  the 
Spanish  succession,  he  has  for  a  long  time  cruised 
with  the  brave  Admiral  Rooke  along  the  coasts  of 
France  ;  with  him,  he  has  fought  against  the  Danish 
in  the  Baltic  Sea,  and  in  1702,  in  the  capacity  of 
a  master  pilot,  figured  honorably  in  the  expedition 
against  Cadiz,  and    in    the   affair  of  Vigo.      Finally, 


OR  THE  REAL  ROBINSON  CRUSOE.         15 

under  the  command  of  Admiral  Dilkes,  he  has  just 
taken  part  in  the  destruction  of  a  French  fleet. 

But  all  these  expeditions,  rather  military  than  mari- 
time, and  circumscribed  in  the  narrow  circle  of  the 
seas  of  Europe,  have  not  satisfied  the  vast  desires  of 
the  ambitious  sailor.  He  experiences  an  invincible 
thirst  to  apply  his  knowledge,  to  exercise  his  intelli- 
gence on  a  larger  scale  ;  he  is  impatient  for  a  long 
voyage,  a  voyage  of  discovery. 

The  terrific  hurricane  of  the  twenty-seventh  of 
November,  1703,  which  drove  the  waves  of  the 
Thames  even  into  Westminster,  Hall,  and  covered 
London  almost  entirely  with  the  fragments  of  broken 
vessels,  appeared  to  Selkirk  a  favorable  occasion  for 
asking  his  dismissal.  He  easily  obtained  it.  So  many 
sailors  had  just  been  thrown  out  of  employment  by 
the  hurricane. 

Once  more,  the  undisciplined  scholar  found  himself 
free  and  his  own  master !  He  profited  by  this  to  pay 
a  visit  to  his  birthplace  in  Scotland.  His  father  was 
dead,  but  he  had  some  business  to  regulate  there. 

On  reaching  Largo  he  learned  the  arrival  of  William 
Dampier  at  St.  Andrew.  He  set  sail  for  that  port 
immediately. 

'  Ah  ! '  said  he  on  his  way,  '  if  this  brave  captain 
should  be  about  to  undertake  a  voyage  to  the  New 
World,  and  will  let  me  accompany  him,  no  matter  in 
what  capacity,  all  my  wishes  will  be  gratified.  I 
thirst  to  see  tattooed  faces,  other  trees  besides  beeches, 
oaks  and  firs ;  other  shores  than  those  of  the  Baltic, 
Mediterranean  and  Atlantic.  Who  knows  whether  1 
may  not  aid  him  in  the  discovery  of  some  new  con- 


16  THE    SOLITARY    OF    JUAN    FERNANDEZ, 

tinent,   some    unknown   island  which   shall   bear  my 
name ! ' 

And,  cradled  by  the  wave  in  the  frail  canoe  that 
bore  him,  he  dreamed  of  government,  perhaps  of 
royalty,  in  one  of  those  archipelagoes  which  he  ima- 
gined to  exist  in  the  bosom  of  the  distant  Southern 
seas,  long  afterwards  explored  by  Cook,  Bougainville 
and  Vancouver. 

Once  in  port,  he  hastened  to  inquire  for  the  dwell- 
ing occupied  by  Dampier.  The  latter  was  absent ;  he 
was  in  the  harbor. 

While  awaiting  his  return,  our  young  sailor  thought 
of  his  old  friend  Catherine,  his  pretty  black-eyed  Kitty, 
and  directed  his  steps  towards  the  inn. 

He  found  her  already  enthroned  in  her  leathern 
arm-chair,  her  hair  neatly  braided,  with  two  small 
curls  on  her  temples ;  in  a  toilette  which  the  early 
hour  of  the  morning  did  not  seem  to  authorize  ;  but  it 
was  the  famous  third  day,  and  she  was  awaiting  Strad- 
ling. 

On  seeing  Selkirk  enter,  she  exclaimed  to  the  boy, 
pointing  to  the  newly-arrived  :  '  A  pot  of  ale  ! ' 

'  No,'  cried  the  young  man  smiling  ;  '  the  ale  which 
I  once  drank  here  was  for  me  a  philter  full  of  bitter- 
ness ;  a  glass  of  whiskey,  if  you  please,  — '  and, 
pointing  to  the  little  table  opposite  the  bar  at  which  he 
was  formerly  accustomed  to  place  himself,  he  said  : 

'  Serve  me  there  ;  I  will  return  to  my  old  habits.' 

Catherine  looked  at  him  with  astonishment. 

'  Does  not  pretty  Kate  recognize  me  ? '  said  he  in  a 
caressing  tone,  approaching  her. 

'  How  !  Is  it  possible  !  is  it  you,  indeed,  Sandy.? ' 


OR  THE  REAL  ROBINSON  CRUSOE.         17 

*  Yes,  Alexander  Selkirk,  formerly  a  fugitive  from 
the  University  of  St.  Andrew ;  recently  a  master  pilot 
in  the  royal  marine  ;  now,  as  ever,  your  very  humble 
servant.' 

And  they  shook  hands,  and  examined  each  other 
closely,  but  the  impression  on  both  sides  was  far  from 
being  the  same. 

Catherine  finds  Selkirk  much  chanored,  but  for  the 
better ;  time  and  navigation  have  been  favorable  to 
him.  He  is  no  longer  the  raw  student  with  embar- 
rassed air,  awkward  manner,  bony  frame  and  dilapi- 
dated costume  ;  but  a  stout  young  man,  with  a  broad 
chest,  active  and  graceful  form  ;  though  his  features 
are  decidedly  Scotch,  they  are  handsome  ;  his  eyes, 
less  brilliant  than  formerly,  are  animated  with  a  more 
attractive  thoughtfulness,  and  the  naval  uniform,  which 
he  still  wears,  sets  off  his  person  to  advantage. 

On  his  part,  Selkirk  finds  Catherine  also  much 
changed ;  the  rosy  complexion,  the  soft  voice,  the 
youthful  look,  the  twenty-two  years,  all  are  gone. 
Her  form  has  assumed  a  superabundant  amplitude. 

They  drop  each  other's  hands  and  utter  a  sigh ;  he, 
of  regret ;  she,  of  surprise. 

Both  close  their  eyes,  at  the  same  time  ;  she,  with 
the  fear  of  gazing  too  earnestly ;  he,  to  recall  the 
being  of  his  imagination. 

However  this  may  be,  she  is  not  yet  a  woman  to 
be  despised  by  a  sailor.  He  therefore  prolongs  his 
visit :  they  come  to  interrogations,  to  confidences. 

Catherine  acquaints  him  with  the  situation  of  her 
little  business  afiairs ;  her  fortune  is  improving  ;  she 
gives  him  an  estimate  of  it  in  round  numbers,  as  well 

2 


18  THE    SOLITARY    OF   JUAN    FERNANDEZ, 

as  of  the  suitors  she  has  rejected ;  but  she  does  not 
mention  Captain  Stradling,  whose  arrival  she  yet  fears 
every  moment. 

Selkirk  relates  to  her  his  campaigns,  his  combats 
against  the  French,  against  the  Danish,  the  victorious 
attack  of  the  English  ships  against  the  great  boom 
of  Vigo ;  but,  when  she  asks  him  what  motive  has 
brought  him  back  to  St.  Andrew,  he  replies  boldly 
that  he  came  to  see  her  and  no  one  else,  and  says  not 
a  word  of  Captain  Dampier,  whom  he  is  even  now 
impatient  to  meet. 

At  last  the  old  friends  say  adieu. 

Then  the  gallant  sailor,  with  an  apparent  effort, 
goes  away,  not  forgetting,  however,  to  drink  his  glass 
of  whiskey. 

And  this  is  the  reason  why,  on  the  third  day,  Cathe- 
rine has  the  vapors  ;  this  is  the  reason  why,  notwith- 
standing her  soft  words  of  the  evening  before  and 
her  grand  morning  toilette,  she  receives  so  coldly  the 
scarred  adversary  of  the  celebrated  Jean  Bart. 

During  the  whole  of  the  week  following,  Stradling, 
Dampier  and  Selkirk,  did  not  fail  to  meet  at  the  Royal 
Salmon.  Selkirk  came  to  see  Dampier ;  Dampier 
came  to  see  Stradling ;  Stradling  came  to  see  Cathe- 
rine Felton. 

The  latter  thought  the  young  man  already  knew  the 
two  others,  that  he  had  sailed  with  them,  and  was  not 
surprised  at  their  intimacy. 

Sometimes  Selkirk,  leaving  his  companions  in  the 
midst  of  their  bottles  and  glasses,  would  describe  a 
tangent  towards  the  counter,  and  come  to  converse 
with  the  pretty  hostess.     He  no  longer  felt  love  for 


OR  THE  REAL  ROBINSON  CRUSOE.        19 

her,  and  notwithstanding  this,   perhaps  for  this  very- 
reason,  he  now  talked  eloquently. 

Kitty  blushed,  was  embarrassed,  and  poor  Captain 
Stradling,  listening  with  all  his  ears  to  the  narratives 
of  his  illustrious  friend  William  Dampier,  or  pre-occu- 
pied  with  his  pipe,  lost  in  its  cloud,  saw  nothing, — 
or  seemed  to  see  nothing. 

Nevertheless  one  evening,  he  went,  in  his  turn,  to 
lean  on  the  counter : 

'  Kate,'  said  he,  '  when  is  our  marriage  to  take 
place  ? ' 

'Are  you  thinking  of  that  still? '  replied  she,  with 
an  air  of  levity  which  would  once  have  became  her 
better ;  '  I  hoped  this  fancy  had  passed  out  of  your 
head.' 

'  I  may  then  set  out  on  my  voyage,  Kate  ?  ' 

'Why  not?  We  will  talk  of  our  plans  on  your 
return.' 

'  But  1  am  going  to  make  the  tour  of  the  world,  as 
well  as  my  friend  Dampier.  Kate,  it  is  the  affair  of 
three  years ! ' 

'  So  much  the  better !  it  will  give  us  both  time  for 
reflection,' 

'  It  is  well ! '  replied  the  phlegmatic  Englishman, 
and  nothing  on  his  polar  face  betokened  an  after- 
thought. 

The  doors  closed,  the  lights  extinguished,  Catherine 
retired  to  rest  the  happiest  woman  in  the  world.  She 
said  to  herself:  'Alexander  loves  me,  and  has  loved 
me  for  eight  years !  he  deserves  to  be  rewarded.  He 
has  less  money  than  the  other,  it  is  a  misfortune  ;  but 
he  has  more  youth  and  grace,  that  balances  it.     As  to 


20  THE    SOLITARY    OF    JUAN    FERNANDEZ, 

rank,  a  master  pilot  of  twenty-four  is  as  far  advanced 
as  a  captain  of  forty.  Between  Selkirk  and  myself, 
if  the  wealth  is  on  my  side,  on  his  will  be  gratitude 
and  little  attentions.  At  all  events,  1  prefer  a  young 
husband  who  will  whisper  words  of  love  in  my  ear,  to 
amusing  myself  by  pouring  out  drink  for  my  lord  and 
master,  while  he  smokes  his  pipe,  with  his  feet  on  the 
brands.  Was  it  not  thus  that  icicle,  dressed  in  blue, 
called  Stradling,  talked  to  me  of  the  pleasures  of  mar- 
riage ?  And  what  a  name  !  But  Mistress  Selkirk  !  — 
that  sounds  well.  In  our  Scotland,  there  is  the  county 
of  Selkirk,  the  town  of  Selkirk  ;  there  is  even  a 
great  nobleman  of  this  name,  who  is  something  like 
minister  to  our  Queen  Anne,  I  believe.  Who  knows  ? 
we  are  perhaps  of  his  family  !  As  for  walking  about 
the  port  arm-in-arm  with  a  captain,  I  am  sure  my  very 
dear  friends  and  neighbors  would  die  with  jealousy  if 
I  took,  instead  of  this  scarred  captain,  a  young  and 
handsome  man.  It  is  settled.  I  will  marry  Alexan- 
der ;  to-morrow  I  will  myself  announce  it  to  him.  I 
hope  he  will  not  die  of  joy! ' 

On  the  morrow  she  attired  herself  as  on  the  day  of 
Selkirk's  return,  in  her  beautiful  dress  of  cloth  and 
silk,  with  the  two  little  curls  upon  her  temples.  She 
thus  waited  a  great  part  of  the  day.  At  last,  about 
four  o'clock,  Selkirk  arrives  in  haste,  his  face  beaming 
With  joy,  and  a  gleam  of  triumph  in  his  eye. 

'  Has  he  then,'  thought  Catherine,  '  a  presentiment 
of  the  happiness  in  store  for  him  ? ' 

'  Congratulate  me,  pretty  Kitty,'  said  the  young 
man,  almost  out  of  breath  ;  '  I  am  appointed  mate  of 
the  brig  Swordfish,  which  I  am  to  join  at  Dunbar.' 


OR  THE  REAL  ROBINSON  CRUSOE.        21 

'  How  !  you  are  going  ? ' 

'  In  an  hour.' 

'  For  a  Ions;  time  ?  ' 

'  For  three  years  at  least.  In  a  fortnight  we  set  sail 
for  the  East  Indies.  It  will  be  a  great  commercial 
voyage  and  a  voyage  of  discovery.  Unfortunately 
William  Dampier  does  not  accompany  us ;  but  he 
furnishes  funds  to  the  brave  Captain  Stradling.' 

'  Stradling ! ' 

'  Yes,  it  is .  he  who  has  just  engaged  me,  and  with 
whom  I  am  to  sail.  Our  agreement  is  signed,  —  I  am 
mate !  I  am  going  to  explore  the  New  World  !  Ah  ! 
I  would  not  exchange  my  fate  for  that  of  a  king.  But 
time  presses  ;  adieu,  Kitty,  till  I  see  you  again  ! ' 

'  Three  years  ! '  murmured  Catherine. 

And  her  curls  grew  straight  beneath  the  cold  perspi- 
ration that  covered  her  forehead. 


22  THE    SOLITARY    OF    JUAN    FERNANDEZ, 


CHAPTER    III. 

The  Tour  of  the  World.  —  The  "VVay  to  manufacture  Negroes 
—  California.  —  The  Eldorado.  — Revolt  of  Selkirk.  — The 
Log-Book.  —  Degradation.  —  A  Free  Shore. 

The  Swordfish,  well  provisioned,  even  with  guns 
and  ammunition,  left  Dunbar  one  morning  with  a  fresh 
breeze,  sailed  down  the  North  Sea,  passed  Ireland, 
France  and  Spain,  the  Azores,  Canaries,  and  Cape 
Verd  Islands  on  the  coast  of  Africa,  and,  after  having 
stopped  for  a  short  time  in  the  harbors  of  Guinea  and 
Congo,  doubled  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  amid  the 
traditional  tempest. 

Entering  the  Indian  Ocean,  and  passing  through  the 
Straits  of  Sunda,  she  touched  at  Borneo,  and  at  Java, 
reached  the  Southern  Sea  by  the  Gulf  of  Siam,  passed 
the  Philippine  Isles,  then,  through  the  vast  regions  of 
the  Pacific  Ocean,  pursued  the  route  which  had  been 
marked  out  by  the  exploring  ship  of  William  Dampier 
in  1686.  Like  that,  the  Swordfish  remained  a  few 
days  at  the  Island  of  St.  Pierre,  before  launching  into 
that  immensity  where,  during  nearly  two  months, 
wave  only  succeeded  to  wave  ;  at  last  she  reached 
the  coasts  of  South  America,  and  cast  anchor  in  the 
Gulf  of  California. 

This  gigantic  voyage,  which  seemed  as  if  it  must 


OR  THE  REAL  ROBINSON  CRUSOE.        23 

have  been  attempted  under  the  inspiration  of  science 
and  with  the  hope  of  the  most  important  discoveries, 
had  been  undertaken  by  Stradling  with  no  object  but 
of  traffic  and  even  of  rapine.  These  had  been  the 
great  ends  of  most  of  the  bold  enterprises  which  had 
preceded.  The  Spanish  and  Portuguese,  in  their  dis- 
coveries of  new  continents,  had  thought  less  of  glory 
than  of  riches ;  they  had  conquered  the  New  World 
only  to  pillage  it  ;  the  vanquished  who  escaped  exter- 
mination, were  forced  to  dig  their  native  soil,  not  to 
render  it  more  fruitful,  but  to  procure  from  it,  for  the 
profit  of  the  vanquisher,  the  gold  it  might  contain. 
Among  the  European  nations,  those  who  had  had  no 
part  in  the  conquest  now  sought  to  share  the  spoils. 
For  this  the  least  pretext  of  war  or  commerce  suf- 
ficed. 

Stradling  availed  himself  of  both  these  pretences ; 
when  he  touched  at  the  coasts  of  Guinea  and  Congo, 
it  was  to  obtain  negroes  whom  he  expected  to  sell  in 
America.  At  Borneo,  the  opportunity  presented  itself 
for  an  advantageous  disposal  of  the  greater  part  of  his 
black  merchandize ;  as  he  was  a  man  of  resources 
and  not  at  all  scrupulous,  he  soon  found  means  to 
replace  them. 

In  the  Straits  of  Sunda,  several  barques,  manned  by 
negroes  and  Malays,  had  become  entangled  in  the 
masses  of  seaweed  which  are  every  where  floating  on 
the  surface  of  the  wave  ;  Stradling  encountered  them, 
made  the  rowers  enter  his  ship,  and  obligingly  took 
the  barques  in  tow,  to  extricate  them  from  their  diffi- 
culty. But  those  who  ascended  the  side  of  the  Sword- 
fish,  descended  only  to  be  sold  in  their  turn. 


24 


THE    SOLITARY    OF   JUAN    FERNANDEZ, 


Although  he  had  received  an  education  superior  to 
that  of  his  companions,  Selkirk  shared  in  the  preju- 
dices of  his  times  ;  he  had  therefore  found  nothing 
objectionable  in  seeing  his  captain  exchange  at  Congo 
little  mirrors,  a  few  glass  beads,  half  a  dozen  useless 
guns,  and  some  gallons  of  brandy,  for  men  still  young 
and  vigorous,  torn  from  their  country  and  their  fami- 
lies. Their  skin  was  of  another  color,  their  heads 
woolly ;  this  was  a  profitable  traffic,  recognized  by 
governments  ;  but  when  he  saw  Stradling  seize  the 
property  of  others  to  refill  his  empty  hold,  he  could 
not  control  his  indignation  and  boldly  expressed  it : 

'  It  is  for  their  salvation,'  replied  the  captain,  with- 
out emotion  ;  '  we  will  make  Christians  of  them.' 

On  approaching  the  Vermilion  Sea,  a  deep  gulf 
which  separates  California  from  the  American  con- 
tinent, and  makes  it  almost  an  island,  the  Malays 
were  rubbed  with  a  mixture  of  tar  and  dragon's  blood, 
dissolved  in  a  caustic  oil,  to  give  to  their  olive  skins 
a  deeper  shade,  and  their  flat  noses  and  silky  hair 
making  them  pass  for  Yolof  negroes,  they  were  ex- 
changed at  Cape  St.  Lucas,  along  with  the  rest,  for 
pearls  and  native  productions. 

The  young  mate  thought  this  proceeding  not  less 
mean  and  dishonorable  than  the  first ;  he  made  new 
observations. 

'  Nothing  now  remains  to  be  done,  captain,'  said  he, 
'  but  to  shave  and  besmear  with  tar  the  monkey  you 
have  just  bought,  and  to  include  it  among  your  new 
race  of  negroes.' 

This  time,  the  captain  looked  at  him  askance,  and 
shrugged  his  shoulders  without  replying 


OR  THE  REAL  ROBINSON  CRUSOE. 


25 


The  storm  was  beginning  to  growl  in  the  distance. 

It  was  not  without  a  secret  object  that,  in  his  course 
through  the  Southern  Sea,  Stradling  had  first  of  all 
aimed  at  California. 

He  devoted  an  entire  month  to  cruising  along  both 
shores  of  this  almost  island,  and  penetrating  all  the 
bays  of  the  Vermilion  Sea ;  he  hoped  to  find  there  a 
passage  to  an  unknown  land,  then  predicted  and 
coveted  by  all  navigators.  What  was  this  land  ?  The 
Eldorado  ! 

Although  I  would  hasten  over  these  details  of  the 
voyage  to  arrive  at  the  more  important  events  of  this 
history  ;  now  that  the  recent  discovery  of  the  immense 
mines  of  gold  buried  beneath  the  hills  of  California 
has  aroused  the  entire  world,  that  the  name  alone  of 
Sacramento  seems  to  fill  with  gold  the  mouth  which 
pronounces  it,  there  is  a  curious  fact,  perhaps  entirely 
unknown,  which  I  cannot  pass  over  in  silence. 

After  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century,  and  long 
before  the  seventeenth,  a  vague  rumor,  a  confused 
tradition,  had  located,  in  the  neighborhood  of  the 
Vermilion  Sea,  a  famed  land,  whose  rivers  rolled  over 
gold,  and  whose  mountains  rested  on  golden  founda- 
tions ;  the  treasures  of  Mexico  and  Peru  were  nothing 
in  comparison  with  those  which  were  to  be  gathered 
there.  An  ingot  of  native  gold  was  talked  of,  of  a 
jpejnte  or  eighty  pounds  weight. 

It  was  a  grape  from  the  promised  land. 

This  marvellous  country  had  been  named,  in  ad- 
vance, Eldorado. 

Among  the  bold  Argonauts  of  these  two  centuries, 
there  was  a  contest  as  to  who   should  first  raise   his 


26  THE    SOLITARY    OF   JUAN    FERNANDEZ, 

flag  over  this  new  Colchis,  defended,  it  was  said,  by 
the  Apaches,  a  terrible,  sanguinary  and  cannibal  race, 
whom  Cortez  himself  could  not  subdue.  This  land  of 
gold  some  had  located  in  New  Biscay  or  New  Mexico ; 
others,  in  the  pretended  kingdoms  of  Sonora  and 
Quivira ;  then,  after  several  ineffectual  attempts,  the 
possibility  of  reaching  it  was  denied ;  learned  men, 
from  the  various  academies  of  Europe,  proved  that  the 
Eldorado  was  not  a  country,  but  a  dream  ;  on  this 
subject  the  Old  World  laughed  at  the  New ;  the  Argo- 
nauts became  discouraged,  and  during  a  century  the 
subject  was  named  only  to  be  ridiculed. 

And  yet,  in  spite  of  sceptics  and  scoffers,  the  Eldo- 
rado existed.  It  existed  where  tradition  had  placed  it,  on 
the  shores  of  this  Vermilion  Sea,  now  the  Gulf  of  Cali- 
fornia. For  once,  popular  opinion  had  the  advantage 
over  scientific  dissertations  and  philosophic  denials  ; 
there,  where,  according  to  the  Dictionary  of  Alcedo, 
nothing  had  been  discovered  but  mines  of  pewter ! 
where  Jacques  Baegert  had  indeed  acknowledged  the 
presence  of  gold,  but  in  meagre  veins ;  where  Raynal 
had  named  as  curiosities  only  fishes  and  pearls, 
declaring,  in  California,  the  sea  richer  than  the  land ; 
where  in  our  own  times  M.  Humboldt  discovered 
nothing  but  cylindrical  cacti,  on  a  sandy  soil,  re- 
mained buried,  as  a  deposit  for  future  ages,  this 
treasure  of  the  world,  which  seemed  to  be  waiting  in 
order  to  leave  its  native  soil,  the  moment  of  falling 
into  the  hands  of  a  commercial  and  industrious  people, 
that  of  the  United  States. 

This  Eldorado^  Stradling  sought  in  vain ;  he  there- 
fore decided  to  pursue  his  route   along  the  coast  of 


OR   THE    REAL    ROBINSON    CRUSOE.  27 

Mexico,  now  under  the  French  flag,  when  he  found 
an  opportunity  for  traffic  with  the  natives,  colonists  or 
savages  ;  now  under  the  English  flag,  when  he  wished 
to  exercise  his  trade  of  corsair,  an  easy  profession,  foi 
since  the  disaster  of  Vigo,  the  Spanish  had  abandoned 
their  transatlantic  possessions  to  themselves. 

The  Spanish  soldiery  of  America  then  found  them- 
selves, in  the  presence  of  European  adventurers,  in 
that  state  of  pusillanimous  inferiority  in  which  had 
been,  at  the  period  of  the  conquest,  the  subjects  of  the 
Incas  and  Montezuma  before  the  soldiers  of  Cortez 
and  Pizarro.  The  time  was  not  already  far  passed, 
when  a  few  bands  of  freebooters,  from  France,  Eng- 
land and  Holland,  had  well  nigh  wrested  from  his 
Majesty,  the  King  of  Spain  and  the  Indies,  the  most 
extensive  and  wealthy  of  his  twenty-two  hereditary 
kingdoms. 

Stradling  was  following  in  the  footsteps  of  these 
freebooters. 

Recently,  two  little  cities  on  the  coast  had  been  put 
under  contribution  for  the  supplies  of  the  Swordfish ; 
there  had  been  resistance,  a  threatened  attack,  a  par- 
ley, and  capitulation  ;  in  this  affair,  the  young  mate 
had  nobly  distinguished  himself  both  as  a  combatant 
and  a  negotiator,  and  yet  the  captain  had  not  deigned 
to  give  him  a  share  in  his  distribution  of  compliments. 

Selkirk  felt  an  irritation  the  more  lively  that  this 
shore  life  began  to  be  irksome.  Not  that  his  con- 
science disturbed  him  any  more  than  in  the  treatment 
of  the  blacks  ;  he  thought  it  as  honorable  to  war  with 
the  Spaniards  in  the  New  World,  as  to  be  beaten  by 
them  in  the  Old  ;  but  he  compared  his  present  chief, 


28  THE    SOLITARY    OF    JUAN    FERNANDEZ, 

Captain  Stradling,  with  his  former  commander,  the 
noble  and  brave  Admiral  Rooke  ;  the  parallel  extended 
in  his  mind  to  his  old  companions  in  the  royal  navy, 
all  so  frank,  so  gay,  so  loyal,  —  among  whom  he  had 
yet  never  found  a  friend, — 'and  his  new  companions 
of  to-day,  recruited  for  the  most  part  in  the  marshy 
lowlands  of  the  merchant  marine  of  Scotland ;  his 
thoughts  became  overshadowed,  and  his  desires  for 
independence,  which  dated  from  his  college  life,  re- 
turned in  full  force. 

As  much  as  his  duties  permitted,  he  loved  to  isolate 
himself  from  all ;  when  he  could  remain  some  time 
alone  in  his  cabin,  or  gaze  upon  the  sea  from  a  retired 
corner  of  the  deck  and  watch  the  ploughing  of  the 
vessel,  then  only  he  was  happy. 

As  if  to  increase  his  uneasiness,  Stradling  became 
daily  more  severe  and  more  exacting  towards  his  chief 
officer;  he  imposed  upon  him  rude  labors  foreign  to 
his  station.  It  seemed  as  if  he  were  determined  to 
drive  him  to  desperation. 

He  succeeded. 

Selkirk  protested  against  such  treatment,  and  reca- 
pitulated his  subjects  of  complaint.  The  other  paid 
no  more  attention  than  he  would  have  done  to  the 
buzzing  of  a  fly. 

Irritated  by  this  outrageous  impassibility,  the  young 
ijian  declared  that  there  should  no  longer  be  any  thing 
in  common  between  them,  and  that,  whatever  fate 
might  await  him,  he  demanded  to  be  set  on  shore. 

Stradling  touched  his  forehead  : 

'■  That  is  a  good  idea,'  said  he,  and  he  turned  away. 

The  next  day,  they  reached  the  Isthmus  of  Panama  ; 
the  persevering  Selkirk  returned  to  the  charge  : 


OR  THE  REAL  ROBINSON  CRUSOE.        29 

'  The  moment  is  favorable  for  ridding  yourself  of 
me,  and  me  of  you,'  said  he  to  the  captain  ;  '  let  the 
boat  convey  me  to  the  shore  ;  I  will  cross  the  Isthmus, 
reach  the  Gulf  of  Darien,  the  North  Sea,  and  return 
to  Scotland,  even  before  the  Swordiish  ! ' 

This  time  the  honest  corsair  listened  attentively, 
then  shaking  his  head  and  winking  his  eye,  with  the 
smile  of  a  hungry  vampire,  replied  : 

'  You  are  then  in  great  haste  to  be  married,  com- 
rade.' 

It  was  the  first  word  he  had  addressed  to  him  relative 
to  Catherine  during  this  long  voyage,  and  tins  word 
Selkirk  had  not  even  understood. 

They  were  about  passing  Panama :  the  vessel  con- 
tinuing her  voyage,  Selkirk  interposed  his  authority, 
ordered  the  men  to  put  about,  take  in  sail  and  approach 
the  shore. 

This  Stradling  prohibited,  uttered  a  formidable  oath, 
and  commanded  the  young  man  to  bring  the  log-book. 
When  it  was  brought,  he  made  the  following  entry  : 

'  To-day,  Sept.  24th,  1704,  Alexander  Selkirk,  mate 
of  this  vessel,  having  mutinied  and  attempted  to  desert 
to  the  enemy,  we  have  deprived  him  of  his  title  and 
his  office  ;  in  case  of  obstinacy  we  shall  hang  him  to 
the  yard-arm.' 

And  he  read  the  sentence  to  the  offender. 

From  this  day,  the  rebel  saw  himself  compelled  to 
serve  in  the  Swordfish  as  a  simple  sailor,  and  his  sub- 
ordinates of  yesterday,  to-day  his  equals,  indemnified 
themselves  for  the  authority  he  had  exercised  over 
them,  which  did  not  cure  him  of  that  native  contempt 
he  had  always  felt  for  mankind. 


80 


THE    SOLITARY    OF    JUAN    FERNANDEZ, 


A  month  passed  away  thus,  during  which  the  Sword- 
fish  several  times  touched  the  shores  of  Peru,  now  to 
renew  her  supplies  of  provisions  and  water,  now  to 
exchange  with  the  Indians,  nails,  hatchets,  knives,  and 
necklaces  of  beads,  for  gold  dust,  furs,  and  garments 
trimmed  with  colored  feathers. 

During  one  of  these  pauses,  Selkirk,  left  on  the  ship, 
accosted  the  captain  once  more.  He  knew  that  the 
remains  of  some  bands  of  freebooters  were  colonized 
there,  leading  a  peaceful  and  agricultural  life  ;  this 
fact  was  known  to  all.  At  Coquimbo  in  Chili,  some 
English  and  Dutch  pirates  had  formed  a  settlement  of 
this  kind,  now  in  the  full  tide  of  prosperity.  Selkirk, 
who,  during  an  entire  month,  had  not  spoken  to  the 
captain,  now  demanded,  in  a  voice  which  he  attempted 
to  render  calm  and  almost  supplicating,  to  be  landed 
at  Coquimbo,  from  which  they  were  only  a  few  days 
sail. 

'  You  will  not  this  time  accuse  me  of  wishing  to 
desert  to  the  enemy  ;  they  are  the  English,  Scotch, 
Dutch,  our  countrymen  and  allies  whom  I  wish  to 
join !  Do  you  still  suspect  me  ?  Well,  do  not  content 
yourself  with  setting  me  on  shore  ;  place  me  in  the 
hands  of  the  chief  men  of  the  settlement.  Will  that 
suit  you  ? ' 

Stradling  winked  significantly ;  but  this  was  all. 
^'Ah!'  resumed  the  young  man  with  increasing 
emotion,  '  do  not  think  to  detain  me  longer  on  board, 
to  crush  me  beneath  this  humiliation  !  I  consented  to 
serve  under  your  orders  as  mate,  and  you  have  made 
me  the  lowest  of  your  sailors  ;  this  you  had  no  right 
to  do.' 


OR  THE  REAL  ROBINSON  CRUSOE.        31 

Stradlinsc  took  his  glass  and  directed  it  towards  the 
shore,  where  his  people  were  engaged  in  trafficking 
their  beads  and  hardware. 

Raising  his  head  and  folding  his  arms  : 
*  Captain,'  pursued  Selkirk  with  vehemence,  '  some 
day  or  other  we  shall  return  to  England,  where  the 
laws  protect  all ;  there,  I  shall  have  the  right  of  com- 
plaint, and  Queen  Anne  loves  to  render  justice  ;  be- 
ware ! ' 

Stradling,  still  spying,  began  to  whistle  God  save  the 
Queen ;  then  he  called  his  monkey  and  made  it  gambol 
before  him. 

'  I  will  depart,  I  will  free  myself  from  your  presence, 
and  that  of  your  worthy  companions ;  1  will  do  so  at 
all  events,  do  you  understand ! '  exclaimed  Selkirk 
exasperated,  '  I  will  not  endure  your  infamous  treat- 
ment another  week  !  If  you  refuse  to  consent  to  my 
demand,  I  will  leave  without  your  permission  ;  were 
the  vessel  twenty  miles  from  the  land,  and  were  I  to 
perish  twenty  times  on  the  way,  I  will  attempt  to 
swim  ashore.  Will  you  land  me  at  Coquimbo,  yes  or 
no  ?     Reply  ! ' 

By  way  of  reply,  Stradling  ordered  him  to  be  (jon- 
fined  in  the  hold. 

Poor  Selkirk !  Ah  !  if  pretty  Kitty,  if  the  beautiful 
landlady  of  the  Royal  Salmon  could  know  all  thou 
hast  endured  for  her  sake,  how  many  tears  would  her 
fine  eyes  shed  over  thy  fate  !  But  who  knows  whether 
she  will  ever  hear  of  thee  ?  Who  can  tell  whether  any 
human  being  will  learn  the  sufferings  in  reserve  for 
thee  .? 


32  THE    SOLITARY    OF    JUAN    FERNANDEZ, 

Poor  Selkirk  !  you  who  painted  to  yourself  so  smil- 
ing a  picture  of  this  grand  voyage  to  America ;  who 
hoped  to  leave,  like  Dampier,  your  name  to  some  strait, 
some  newly  discovered  island  ;  you  who  dreamed  of 
scientific  walks  in  vast  prairies  and  under  the  arches 
of  virgin  forests,  you  have  shared  only  in  the  career 
of  a  trafficker  and  a  pirate  ;  of  this  New  World,  full 
of  marvellous  sights,  you  have  seen  only  the  shore, 
the  fringe  of  the  mantle,  the  margin  of  this  last  work 
of  God  ! 

Poor  Selkirk,  must  you  then  return  to  your  cold 
and  foggy  Scotland,  without  having  contemplated  at 
your  ease,  beneath  the  brilliant  sun  of  the  tropics, 
one  of  those  Edens  overshadowed  by  the  luxuriant 
verdure  of  palm-trees,  bananas,  mimosas  and  gigantic 
ferns  ?  In  your  country,  the  bark  of  the  trees  is  clad 
with  lichens  and  mosses,  and  the  parasite  mistletoe 
suspends  itself  to  the  branches,  more  as  a  burden  than 
as  an  ornament ;  here,  numerous  families  of  the  orchis, 
with  their  singular  forms,  showy  and  variegated  blos- 
soms, climb  along  the  knotty  stems  of  the  tall  monarchs 
of  the  forests  ;  from  their  feet  spring  up,  as  if  to  en- 
lace them  with  a  magic  network,  the  brilliant  passi- 
flora,  the  vanilla  with  its  intoxicating  perfume,  the 
banisteria  whose  roots  seem  to  have  dived  into  mines 
of  gold  and  borrowed  from  tlix3nce  the  color  of  its 
petals !  Hither  the  birds  of  Paradise  and  Brazilian 
parrots  come  to  build  their  nests  ;  here  the  bluebird  and 
the  purple-necked  wood-pigeon  coo  and  sing  ;  here,  like 
swarms  of  bees,  thousands  of  l\umming-birds  of  min- 
gled emerald  and  sapphire,  warble  and  glitter  as  they 
suck  the  nectar  from  the  flowers.     This  was  what  you 


OR  THE  REAL  ROBINSON  CRUSOE.        33 

hoped  to  contemplate,  poor  Selkirk !  and  this  joy,  like 
many  others,  is  henceforth  forbidden. 

In  his  floating  prison,  in  his  submarine  cell,  his  only 
employment  is  to  listen  to  the  dashing  of  the  waves 
against  the  ship,  or  now  and  then  to  catch  a  glimpse 
of  the  blue  sky  through  the  hatchways. 

What  cares  he  ?  He  does  not  complain  ;  he  has 
learned  to  abhor  mankind,  and  he  loves  to  be  alone,  in 
company  with  himself  and  his  own  thoughts. 

Several  days  passed  in  this  manner. 

One  morning  he  felt  the  brig  slacken  its  speed  ;  the 
dashing  of  the  wave  against  the  prow  diminished,  and 
the  Swordfish,  suddenly  furling  its  sails,  after  having 
slightly  rocked  hither  and  thither,  stopped.  They  had 
just  cast  anchor.     Where  ?   he  knows  not. 

Soon  he  hears  the  rattling  of  the  rope-ladder  which 
serves  as  a  stairway  to  those  above  who  would  commu- 
nicate with  his  prison.  They  come,  on  the  part  of  the 
captain,  to  seek  him. 

He  finds  the  latter  seated  on  the  deck,  surrounded 
by  his  principal  men. 

'  Young  man,'  said  Stradling,  '  I  have  been  obliged 
to  be  severe  for  the  sake  of  an  example  ;  but  you  have 
been  sufficiently  punished  by  the  time  you  have  passed 
below  there,'  —  and  he  pointed  to  the  ship's  hold. 
'  Now,  your  wish  shall  be  granted.  You  shall  be 
allowed  to  land.' 

And  the  rare  smile  which  sometimes  hovered  on  his 
lips,  stole  over  his  rigid  face. 

'  So  much  the  better,'  replied  Selkirk,  laconically. 

The    boat  was  let   down  ;    he   entered   it,   and  ten 
minutes   afterwards   disembarked  on   a  green   shore, 
3 


34  THE    SOLITARY    OF    JUAN    FERNANDEZ, 

where  the  waves,  as  they  broke   upon  it,  seemed  to 
murmur  softly  in  his  ear  the  word,  liberty  ! 

The  boat  immediately  rejoined  the  ship,  which  set 
sail,  coasted  along  Chili  and  Patagonia,  and  re-entered 
the  Northern  Sea  by  the  Stra4ts  of  Magellan. 


OR  THE  REAL  ROBINSON  CRUSOE.        35 


CHAPTER   IV. 

Inspection  of  the  Country.  —  Marimonda.  —  A  City  seen 
through  the  Fog.  —  The  Sea  every  where.  —  Dialogue  with 
a  Toucan.  —  The  first  Shot.  —  Declaration  of  War. — Ven- 
geance.—  A  Terrestrial  Paradise. 

While  watching  the  departure  of  the  Swordfish, 
Alexander  Selkirk  felt  the  same  sensation  as  on  that 
day  when  he  had  seen  the  doors  of  the  college  of  St. 
Andrew  thrown  open  for  his  exit;  once  more  he  was 
his  own  master.  Now,  however,  it  is  at  some  thou- 
sands of  miles  from  his  countiy  that  he  must  reap  the 
benefits  of  his  independence,  and  this  idea  embitters 
his  emotions  of  joy. 

But  is  he  not  about  to  find  countrymen  at  Coquim- 
bo  ?  And  if  their  society  should  be  unpleasing  ?  —  if 
their  habits,  their  mode  of  life,  their  persons,  should 
become  objects  of  antipathy  to  the  misanthropic  Sel- 
kirk, as  it  is  but  natural  to  fear  ?  Well !  after  all,  no 
engagement  binds  him  to  them  ;  he  will  be  always  free 
to  enter,  in  the  capacity  of  a  sailor,  the  first  vessel 
which  may  leave  for  Europe. 

Determined  to  act  as  shall  seem  good  to  him,  —  to 
make  some  excursions  into  the  interior  of  the  continent, 
if  an  opportunity  presents  itself,  and  he  will  know  how 
to  make  one,  —  he  casts  a  first  glance  at  the  land  of  his 
adoption. 


36  THE    SOLITARY    OF    JUAN    FERNANDEZ, 

Before  him  extends  a  vast  shore,  studded  with 
groves  of  trees,  covered  with  fine  turf  and  little  flowers 
joyfully  unfolding  their  petals  to  the  sun :  two  streams, 
having  their  source  at  the  very  base  of  the  opposite 
hills,  after  having  meandered  around  this  immense 
lawn,  unite  almost  at  his  feet. 

He  bends  down  to  one  of  these  streams,  fills  the 
hollow  of  his  hand  with  water,  and  tastes  it,  as  a  liba- 
tion, and  as  a  toast  to  the  generous  land  which  has  just 
received  him  ;  the  water  is  excellent ;  he  plucks  a 
flower,  and  continues  his  inspection. 

On  his  left  rise  high  mountains,  terraced  and  ver- 
dant, excepting  at  their  summits,  on  one  of  which  he 
perceives  a  goat,  with  long  horns,  stationed  there  im- 
movable like  a  sentinel,  and  whose  delicate  profile  is 
clearly  defined  on  the  azure  of  the  sky.  On  the  side 
towards  the  sea,  the  mountains,  bending  their  gray  and 
naked  heads,  resemble  stone  giants,  watching  the  move- 
ments of  the  wave  which  dashes  at  their  feet. 

On  his  right,  where  the  land  declines,  he  sees  little 
valleys  linked  together  with  charming  undulations  ;  but 
on  the  mountains  at  his  left,  in  the  valleys  at  his  right, 
among  the  hills  in  the  distance,  his  eye  vainly  seeks 
the  vestige  of  a  human  habitation. 

He  sets  out  in  search  of  one.  The  boat  from  which 
he  landed  has  deposited  on  the  shore  his  effects  —  his 
arjms,  his  nautical  instruments,  his  charts,  a  Bible,  and 
provisions  of  various  kinds.  Notwithstanding  his  pirat- 
ical sentiments,  the  captain  of  the  Svvordfish  has  not 
designed  to  precede  exile  by  confiscation.  Selkirk 
takes  his  gun,  his  gourd ;  but,  unable  to  carry  all  his 
riches,  he  conceals  them  behind  a  stony  thicket,  well 


OR  THE  REAL  ROBINSON  CRUSOE.        37 

defended  by  the  darts  of  the  cactus,  and  the  sword-like 
leaves  of  the  aloe,  not  caring  to  have  the  first  comer 
seize  therg  as  his  booty. 

As  he  is  occupied  with  this  duty,  he  feels  himself 
suddenly  clasped  by  two  long  hairy  arms ;  he  turns 
his  head,  it  is  Marimonda,  the  captain's  monkey,  a 
female  of  the  largest  species. 

How  came  she  there  ?     Selkirk  does  not  know. 

Disgusted  with  her  sea-voyages,  with  the  intelli- 
gence natural  to  her  race,  Marimonda  has  undoubtedly 
profited  by  the  moment  of  the  boat's  leaving  the  ship 
to  conceal  herself  in  it  and  gain  the  shore  along  with 
the  prisoner,  which  she  might  easily  have  done,  un- 
seen by  all,  during  the  transporting  of  the  effects  and 
provisions. 

However  this  may  be,  Selkirk  begins  by  freeing 
himself  from  her  grasp,  repulses  the  monkey  and  sets 
out :  but  the  latter  perseveres  in  following,  and  after 
having,  by  her  most  graceful  grimaces,  sought  to  con- 
ciliate him,  marches  beside  him.  Not  caring  to  arrive 
at  Coquimbo  escorted  by  such  a  companion,  which 
would  give  him  in  a  city  the  appearance  of  a  mounte- 
bank and  showman  of  monkeys,  Selkirk,  this  time, 
repulses  her  rudely,  not  with  his  hand,  but  with  the 
butt  of  his  gun. 

Struck  in  the  breast  by  this  home  thrust,  the  poor 
monkey  stops,  rolls  up  her  eyes,  moves  her  lips,  and 
growling  confusedly  her  complaints  and  reproaches, 
crouches  beneath  a  tuft  of  the  sapota,  leaving  the  man 
to  pursue  his  way  alone. 

Selkirk  has  at  first  directed  his  steps  toward  the 
valleys ;   after  having  traversed  these,  he  arrives  at 


38  THE    SOLITARY    OF   JUAN    FERNANDEZ, 

the  margin  of  a  sandy  plain,  and  as  far  as  the  eye  can 
reach,  perceives  neither  city,  village,  house,  tent  nor 
hut,  nothing  which  can  indicate  the  presence  of  in- 
habitants. 

Nevertheless,  a  little  grove  which  he  has  just  trav- 
ersed, seems  to  have  recently,  in  its  principal  path, 
passed  under  the  shears  of  a  gardener;  the  foliage 
presents  a  certain  symmetry  ;  fragments  of  branches 
are  strewed  on  the  ground,  which  seem  to  have  been 
freshly  cut ;  he  even  thinks  he  sees  vestiges  of  the 
passage  of  a  flock.  On  the  lawn  of  the  shore,  he  has 
seen,  and  still  sees  around  him,  trees  with  tufted 
heads,  which  must  owe  this  form  to  art.  He  con- 
tinues his  researches. 

At  last,  in  the  distance,  beneath  a  fog  which  is 
just  beginning  to  dissolve,  he  perceives  a  vast  mass  of 
white  and  red  houses,  some  with  terraced  roofs,  others 
covered  with  thatch  ;  through  the  humid  veil  which 
envelopes  them,  he  sees  the  glistening  of  the  glass  in 
the  windows ;  already  he  hears  at  his  feet  the  con- 
fused noise  of  cities  ;  murmuring  voices  reply  ;  the 
measured  sound  of  hammers  and  of  mills  even  reaches 
his  ear. 

It  is  Coquimbo  !  he  cannot  doubt  it,  and  shortening 
his  route  by  a  path  across  the  hill,  he  quickens  his 
pace. 

'Meanwhile  an  east  wind  arises,  the  fog  disappears  ; 
when  he  thinks  he  has  reached  the  suburbs  of  the  city, 
Selkirk  sees  before  him  only  an  irregular  assemblage 
of  calcareous  stones,  crowned  with  dry  herbs,  or  red- 
dish, arid,  angular  rocks,  flattened  at  their  summits, 
tessellated  with  fragments  of  silex  and  mica,  on  which 


OR  THE  REAL  ROBINSON  CRUSOE.        39 

the  sun  is  just  pouring  his  rays  ;  a  company  of  goats, 
which  the  mist  had  condemned  to  a  momentary  re- 
pose, are  bounding  here  and  there,  startling  flocks  of 
clamorous  black-birds  and  plaintive  sea-gulls  ;  the  fear- 
less and  yellow-crested  woodpeckers  alone  do  not  §tir, 
but  continue  to  hammer  with  their  sharp  beaks  at  some 
old  stunted  trees. 

The  disenchantment  is  painful  for  our  sailor ;  the 
fog  has  deceived  him  with  the  semblance  of  a  city,  as 
it  has  more  than  once  dtiludcd  us  in  the  midst  of  plains 
and  woods,  by  the  appearance  of  an  ocean  with  its 
white  waves,  its  great  capes,  its  bold  shores,  and  its 
vessels  at  anchor. 

Perhaps  Coquimbo  is  still  beyond.  Fearing  to  lose 
himself  if  he  ventures  farther  in  an  unknown  land,  he 
resolves  to  explore  it  first  by  a  look.  Returning  to 
the  shore  upon  which  he  had  landed,  he  scales  the 
mountains  on  the  north,  reaches  the  first  platform, 
and  from  thence  seeks  to  discover  some  indications  of 
a  city.  Nothing !  he  still  ascends,  the  circle  enlarges 
around  him,  but  with  no  better  result.  Summoning 
all  his  courage,  through  a  thousand  difficulties,  climb- 
ing, drawing  himself  up  by  the  arid  and  abrupt  rocks, 
piled  one  upon  another,  he  at  last  attains  a  culminating 
point  of  the  mountain.  He  can  now  embrace  with  his 
eye  an  immense  horizon,  but  this  immense  horizon  is 
the  sea  !  On  his  right,  on  his  left,  before  him,  behind 
him,  every  where  the  sea  ! 

He  Is  not  on  the  continent,  but  on  an  island. 

This  evening,  exhausted  with  fatigue,  he  lies  down 
in  a  grotto  at  the  foot  of  the  mountain,  where  he 
passes  a  night  full  of  agitation  and  anxiety. 


40  THE    SOLITARY    OF    JUAN    FERNANDEZ, 

Rising  with  the  sun,  his  first  care,  the  next  morning, 
is  to  examine  his  riches  and  his  provisions.  He  re- 
turns to  the  thicket  of  cactus  and  aloes. 

Besides  two  guns,  two  hatchets,  a  knife,  an  iron  pot, 
a  Bible  and  nautical  instruments,  all  articles  belonging 
to  him,  he  finds  there  a  quantity  of  nails,  a  large  frag- 
ment of  a  sail,  several  horns  of  powder  and  shot ;  a 
bag  of  ship  biscuit,  a  salted  quarter  of  pork,  a  little 
cask  of  pickled  fish,  and  a  dozen  cocoa-nuts. 

The  night  before,  at  sight  of  these  articles,  he  had 
supposed  a  sentiment  of  justice  and  humanity  to  exist 
in  the  soul  of  the  corsair.  Just  now,  he  had  said  to 
himself  that  Stradling,  deceived  by  a  false  reckoning  of 
latitude,  had  landed  him  on  an  island,  perhaps  believ- 
ing it  to  be  a  projecting  shore  of  the  continent.  Now, 
the  abundance  of  his  supplies,  this  biscuit,  these  salt 
provisions,  these  fruits  of  the  cocoa,  all  valueless  if  he 
had  really  landed  at  Coquimbo,  lead  him  to  suspect 
that  the  vindictive  Englishman  has  designedly  chosen 
the  place  of  his  exile. 

But  this  exile,  is  it  complete  isolation  ?  Is  the 
island  inhabited  or  deserted  .?  If  it  is  inhabited,  as  he 
still  believes  he  has  reason  to  suppose,  by  whom  is 
it  so  ? 

That  he  may  obtain  a  reply  to  this  double  question, 
he  resolves  to  traverse  the  country  in  its  whole  extent. 
At  the  very  commencement  of  his  journey,  the  immo- 
bility of  a  bird  sufhces  to  give  to  the  doubt,  on  which 
his  thoughts  vacillate,  the  appearance  almost  of  a 
certainty. 

This  bird  is  a  toucan,  of  brilliant  plumage  and  mon- 
strous beak.      Selkirk  passes  near  it,  with  his  eyes 


OR  THE  REAL  ROBINSON  CRUSOE.        41 

fixed  on  the  branch  which  serves  as  a  perch,  and  the 
toucan,  without  stirring,  looks  at  him  with  a  species  of 
calm  and  placid  astonishment. 

Selkirk  stops ;  he  comprehends  the  mute  language 
of  the  bird. 

'  You  do  not  know  then  what  a  man  is !  He  is  the 
enemy  of  every  creature  to  whom  God  has  given  life, 
the  enemy  even  of  his  kind !  You  have  then  never 
been  threatened  by  the  arms  that  I  bear ! ' 

And  with  the  palm  of  his  hand,  striking  the  butt  of 
his  gun,  he  made  the  hammer  click. 

At  the  sound  of  his  voice,  as  at  the  noise  of  the 
hammer,  the  bird  raised  its  head,  manifesting  new  and 
redoubled  surprise,  but  without  any  other  movement. 
It  seemed  to  think  that  the  man  and  the  gun  were  one, 
and  that  its  strange  interlocutor  possessed  two  different 
voices. 

At  last,  by  way  of  reply,  it  uttered  a  few  shrill  and 
prolonged  cries,  accompanied  by  the  rattling  of  its  two 
horny  mandibles.  After  which,  acting  the  great  no- 
bleman, cutting  short  the  audience  he  has  deigned  to 
grant,  the  toucan  is  silent,  turns  its  head,  proudly 
raises  one  of  its  wings  and  busies  itself  in  smoothing, 
with  the  point  of  its  large  beak,  its  beautiful  greenish 
feathers,  variegated  with  purple. 

At  some  distance  from  this  spot,  still  following  the 
margin  of  a  wooded  hill,  Selkirk  sees  other  birds, 
some  in  their  nests,  others  warbling  in  the  shade  ;  all 
manifesting  no  more  alarm  at  his  presence  than  did 
the  toucan.  Crested  orioles,  hooded  bullfinches,  alight 
to  pick  up  little  grains  or  insects  almost  at  his  feet ; 
humming-birds,  variegated    cotingas,   red    manaquins 


4*2  THE    SOLITARY    OF    JUAN    FERNANDEZ, 

flutter  before  him  in  the  sunbeams,  pursuing  invisible 
flies ;  Httle  wood-peckers,  black  or  green,  hop  around 
the  trunks  of  the  trees,  stopping  a  moment  to  see  him 
pass  and  then  resuming  their  spiral  ascent. 

The  confidence  which  he  inspires  is  not  confined  to 
these  winged  people.  Upon  a  hillock  of  turf  he 
perceives  an  animal,  with  pointed  nose,  brown  fur 
enamelled  with  red  spots,  and  of  the  size  of  a  hare  ; 
seated  on  its  hind  paws,  longer  than  those  in  front,  it 
uses  these,  after  the  manner  of  squirrels,  to  carry  to  its 
mouth  some  nuts  of  the  maripa,  which  constitute  its 
breakfast.  It  is  an  agouti, ^  a  mother,  her  little  ones 
are  near.  At  sight  of  the  stranger  they  run  to  her,  but 
quickly  re-assured,  quietly  finish  their  morning  repast. 

Farther  on,  coatis,2  with  short  ears,  and  long  tails  ; 


*  Agouti.  An  animal  of  the  bigness  of  a  rabbit,  with  bright 
red  hair,  and  a  little  tail  without  hair.  He  has  but  two  teeth 
in  each  jaw ;  holds  his  meat  in  his  forepaws  like  a  squirrel, 
and  has  a  very  remarkable  cry :  when  he  is  angry,  his  hair 
stands  on  end,  and  he  strikes  the  earth  with  his  hind  feet ;  and 
when  chased,  he  flies  to  a  hollow  tree,  whence  he  is  expelled 
by  smoke. —  Trevoux. 

2  The  coati  is  a  native  of  Brazil,  not  unlike  the  racoon  in 
the  general  form  of  the  body,  and,  like  that  animal,  it  fre- 
quently sits  up  on  the  hinder  legs,  and  in  this  position  carries 
its  food  to  its  mouth.  If  left  at  liberty  in  a  state  of  tameness, 
ifA^'ill  pursue  poultry,  and  destroy  every  living  thing  that  it  has 
strength  to  conquer.  When  it  sleeps  it  rolls  itself  into  a  lump, 
and  remains  immovable  for  fifteen  hours  together.  His  eyes 
are  small,  but  full  of  life  j  and  when  domesticated,  this  crea- 
ture is  very  playful  and  amusing.  A  great  peculiarity  be- 
longing to  this  animal  is  the  length  of  his  snout,  which 
resembles  in  some  particulars  the  trunk  of  the  elephant,  as  it 


OR  THE  REAL  ROBINSON  CRUSOE.         43 

companies  of  little  Guinea  pigs ;  armadillos,  a  species 
of  hedge-hog  without  the  quills,  but  covered  with  an 
armor  of  scales,  more  compact  and  impervious  than 
that  of  the  ancient  knights  of  the  Middle  Ages,  arrange 
themselves  along  the  line  of  his  route,  as  if  to  pass  him 
in  review. 

Alas  !  this  general  quiet  does  but  deepen  in  the 
heart  of  Selkirk  the  certainty  of  his  isolation. 

Nevertheless,  yesterday,  said  he  to  himself,  in  this 
thick  wood,  did  I  not  see  alleys  trimmed  with  the 
shears,  trees  shaped  by  the  pruning-knife  ? 

And  the  little  grove  which  he  visited  the  evening 
previous,  at  that  instant  presents  itself  before  him. 
He  examines  the  trees ;  they  are  myrtles  of  various 
heights  ;  but  among  their  glossy  branches,  he  in  vain 
seeks  traces  of  the  pruning-knife  or  shears ;  nature 
alone  has  thus  disposed  in  spheroids  or  umbels  the 
extremities  of  this  rich  vegetation. 

The  same  disappointment  awaits  him  in  the  under- 
wood. The  only  pruners  have  been  goats,  or  other 
animals,  daintily  cropping  the  green  shoots. 

Then  only  does  the  complete  and  terrible  certainty 
of  his  disaster  fall  on  him  and  crush  him.  Behold  him 
blotted  from  the  number  of  men,  perhaps  condemned 
to  die  of  misery  and  of  hunger  !  more  securely  impris- 
oned, more  entirely  forgotten  by  the  world  than  the 
most  hardened  criminal  plunged  in  the  lowest  depths 


is  movable  in  every  direction.  The  ears  are  round,  and  like 
those  of  a  rat ;  the  forefeet  have  five  toes  each.  The  hair  is 
short  and  rough  on  the  back,  and  of  a  blackish  color  ;  the  tail 
is  marked  with  rings  of  black,  like  the  wild  cat ;  the  rest  of 
the  animal  is  a  mixture  of  black  and  red. 


44  THE    SOLITARY    OF    JUAN    FERNANDEZ, 

of  the  Bastile  !     He  at  least,  has  a  jailor  !  Miserable 
Stradling! 

At  this  moment  he  hears  a  noise  above  his  head  :  it 
is  the  monkey. 

Marimonda,  on  her  side',  has  also  inspected  the 
island  ;  she  has  already  tasted  its  productions.  Whether 
she  is  satisfied  with  her  discoveries,  or  whether  for- 
giveness and  forgetfulness  of  injuries  are  natural  to 
her,  on  perceiving  her  old  companion,  wagging  her 
head  in  token  of  good-will,  she  descends  towards  him 
from  the  tree  on  which  she  is  perched. 

But  Marimonda  is  the  captain's  monkey ;  she  has 
been  his  property,  his  favorite,  his  flatterer  !  In  the 
disposition  of  mind  in  which  Selkirk  finds  himself,  he 
does  not  need  these  thoughts  to  make  him  pitiless. 
Marimonda  reminds  him  of  Stradling ;  the  monkey 
shall  pay  for  the  man  ! 

He  lowers  his  gun,  and  fires.  The  monkey  has 
seen  the  movement  and  divined  his  intentions  ;  she 
has  only  time  to  retreat  behind  her  tree,  which  does 
not  prevent  her  receiving  in  her  side  a  part  of  the 
charge. 

This  detonation  of  fire-arms,  the  .first  perhaps  which 
has  resounded  in  this  corner  of  the  earth  since  the 
creation  of  the  world,  as  it  is  prolonged  from  echo  to 
echo,  even  to  the  highest  mountains,  awakens  in  every 
pstrt  of  the  island  as  it  were  a  groan  of  distress.  In- 
stinct, that  sublime  prescience,  has  revealed  to  all  that 
a  great  peril  has  just  been  born. 

To  the  cries  of  affright  from  birds  of  every  species, 
to  the  uneasy  and  distant  bleating  of  the  goats,  suc- 
ceeds a  plaintive  moaning,  like  the  voice  of  a  wailing 
infant. 


OR  THE  REAL  ROBINSON  CRUSOE.        45 

It  is  Marimonda  lamenting  over  her  wound. 

At  nightfall,  after  an  entire  day  of  walks  and  explo- 
rations, Selkirk  is  returning  to  his  grotto  on  the  shore, 
when  he  sees  a  stone  fall  at  his  feet,  then  another. 

While  he,  astonished,  is  seeking  to  divine  the  direc- 
tion from  which  this  invisible  battery  plays,  a  little 
date-stone  hits  him  on  the  cheek.  He  immediately 
hears  as  it  were  a  joyous  whistling  in  the  foliage, 
which  is  agitated  at  his  right,  and  sees  Marimonda 
leaping  from  tree  to  tree,  using  for  this  movement  her 
feet,  her  tail,  and  one  hard  ;  for  she  holds  the  other 
to  her  side.     It  is  a  compress  on  her  wound. 

War  is  already  in  the  island !  Selkirk  has  a  de- 
clared enemy  here!  And  this  island,  is  it  deserted? 
He  has  just  traversed  it  in  every  direction  without  see- 
ing any  thing  which  betokens  the  existence  of  a  human 
being. 

His  disaster  is  then  complete ;  henceforth  not  a 
doubt  of  it  can  exist.  And  yet  his  forehead  wears 
rather  the  character  of  hope  and  fortitude  than  of  dis- 
couragement ;  it  is  more  than  resignation,  it  is  pride. 

He  has  just  visited  his  empire.  The  island,  irregu- 
lar in  form,  is  from  four  to  five  leagues  in  length;  in 
breadth  it  is  from  one  and  a  half  to  two  leagues. 
This  abode  to  which  he  is  condemned,  is  the  most 
enchanting  retreat  he  could  have  chosen ;  a  luxuriant 
park  cradled  upon  the  waves. 

If  sometimes,  in  the  mountainous  parts,  he  has  en- 
countered sterile  and  rugged  rocks,  even  abysses  and 
precipices,  they  seem  to  be  placed  there  only  as  a 
contrast  to  the  fresh  and  green  valleys  which  encircle 
them.     If  he  has  seen  some  dark,  dense,  inaccessible 


46  THE    SOLITARY    OF   JUAN    FERNANDEZ, 

forests,  entangled  in  the  thousand  arms  of  interwoven 
vines,  he  has  not  discovered  a  single  reptile. 

Every  where,  springs  of  living  water,  little  streams 
which  are  lost  under  a  thick  verdure,  or  fall  in  cas- 
cades from  the  summits  of-  the  hills  ;  every  where  a 
luxuriant  vegetation  ;  esculent  and  refreshing  plants, 
celery,  cresses,  sorrel,  spring  in  profusion  beneath  his 
feet ;  over  his  head,  and  almost  within  reach  of  his 
hand,  palm-cabbages,  and  unknown  fruits  of  succulent 
appearance :  on  the  margin  of  the  shores,  muscles,  peri- 
winkles, shell-fish  of  every  species,  crabs  crawling  in 
the  moist  sand  ;  beneath  the  transparent  waters,  innu- 
merable shoals  of  fishes  of  all  colors,  all  forms.  Will 
game  be  wanting  here  ?  After  what  he  has  seen  this 
morning,  he  will  not  even  need  his  gun  to  obtain 
it.  Oh  !  his  provision  of  powder  will  last  him  a  long 
time. 

What  has  he  to  desire  more  in  this  terrestrial  Para- 
dise ?  The  society  of  men  ?  Why  ?  That  he  may 
find  a  master,  a  chief,  under  whose  will  he  must 
bend  ?  Men !  but  he  despises,  detests  them !  Is  he 
not  then  sufficient  for  himself  ?  Yes !  this  shall  be 
his  glory,  his  happiness  !  To  live  in  entire  liberty,  to 
depend  only  upon  himself,  will  not  this  impart  to  his 
soul  true  dignity  ?  Besides,  this  island  cannot  be  so 
far  from  the  coast,  but,  from  time  to  time,  ships,  or  at 
least  boats  must  come  in  sight.  This  is  then  for  him 
but  a  transient  seclusion ;  but  were  he  even  condemned 
to  eternal  isolation,  this  isolation  has  ceased  to  terrify 
him,  he  accepts  it !  Has  he  not  almost  always  lived 
alone,  in  spirit  at  least  ?  When  he  was  in  the  depths 
of  the  hold,  was  he  not  better  satisfied  with  his  fate 


OR  THE  REAL  ROBINSON  CRUSOE.         47 

than  when  surrounded  by  those  coarse  sailors  who 
composed  the  worthy  crew  of  the  Sword  fish  ? 

To-day  he  is  no  longer  the  prisoner  of  Stradling, 
he  is  the  prisoner  of  God  !  and  this  thought  re-assures 
him. 

A  sailor,  he  has  never  loved  but  the  sea  ;  well !  the 
sea  surrounds  him,  guards  liim  !  He  has  then  only 
thanks  to  render  to  God. 

Arrived  at  his  grotto,  he  takes  his  Bible,  opens  it  ; 
but  the  sun,  suddenly  sinking  below  the  horizon,  per- 
mits him  to  read  only  this  passage  on  which  his  finger 
is  placed  :  '  Thou  shalt  perish  in  thy  pride  ! ' 


48  THE    SOLITARY    OF    JUAN    FERNANDEZ, 


CHAPTER  V. 

Labors  of  the  Colonist.  —  His  Study.  —  Fishing.  —  Adminis- 
tration. —  Selkirk  Island.  —  The  New  Prometheus.  —  What 
is  wanting  to  Happiness.  —  Encounter  with  Marimonda.  — 
Monologue. 

Three  months  have  passed  away. 

Thanks  to  Selkirk,  the  shore  which  received  him  at 
his  disembarkation,  presents  to-day  an  aspect  not  only 
picturesque,  but  animated.  The  hand  of  man  has 
made  itself  felt  there. 

The  bushes  and  tufts  of  trees  which  hid  the  view  of 
the  hills  in  the  distance,  have  been  uprooted  and  cut 
down  ;  pretty  paths,  covered  with  gravel,  wind  over  the 
vast  lawn  ;  one  in  the  direction  of  the  valleys  at  the  right, 
another  towards  the  mountains  at  the  left ;  a  third  leads 
to  a  tall  mimosa,  whose  topmost  boughs  and  dense 
foliage  spread  out  like  a  parasol.  A  wooden  bench, 
composed  of  some  round  sticks,  driven  into  the  earth, 
with  branches  interwoven  and  covered  with  bark,  sur- 
rounds it;  a  rustic  table, constructed  in  the  same  man- 
ner, stands  at  the  foot  of  the  tree.  This  is  the  study 
and  place  of  meditation  of  the  exile  ;  here  also  he 
comes  to  take  his  meals,  in  sight  of  the  sea. 

All  three  paths  terminate  in  the  grotto  which  Selkirk 
continues  to  make  his  residence.  This  grotto  he  has 
enlarged,  quarried  out  with  his  hatchet,  to  make  room 


OR  THE  REAL  ROBINSON  CRUSOE.         49 

for  himself,  his  furniture,  and  provisions.  He  has 
even  attempted  to  decorate  its«exterior  with  a  bank  of 
turf,  and  several  species  of  creeping  plants,  trained  to 
cover  its  calcareous  nudity.  At  the  entrance  of  his 
habitation,  rise  two  young  palm-trees,  transplanted 
there  by  him,  to  serve  as  a  portico.  But  nature  is 
not  always  obedient  to  man ;  the  vines  and  palm-trees 
do  not  prosper  in  their  new  location,  and  now  the 
long  flexible  branches  of  the  one,  and  the  broad  leaves 
of  the  other,  droop  half  withered  above  the  grotto, 
which  they  disfigure  rather  than  decorate. 

By  constant  care,  and  with   the  aid  of  his  streams, 
Selkirk  hopes  to  be  able  to  restore  them  to  life  and 
health.     He  has  imposed  on  his  two  streams  another 
duty,  that  of  supplying  a  bed  of  water-cresses  and  a 
fish-pond,  both  provident   establishments,   the  first  of 
which   has  succeeded  perfectly.     As  for  the  second, 
his   most   arduous  task  has  been,  not  to  dig  the  fish- 
pond, but  to  people  it.     For  this  purpose  he  has  been 
compelled  to  become  a  fisherman,  to  manufacture  a  net. 
He  has  succeeded,  with  some  threads  from  his  fragment 
of  a  sail,  the  fibres  of  his  cocoa-nuts,  and  tough  reeds, 
woven  in  close  meshes  ;  unfortunately  those  fine  fishes, 
breams,  eels  and  angel-fish,  which  show  themselves  so 
readily  through  the  limpid  wave,  are   not  as  easy  to 
catch  as  to  see.     Under  the  surface,  almost  at  a  level 
with  the  water,  there  is  a  ledge  of  rocks,  upon  which 
the   net  cannot  be   managed.     After  several  fruitless 
attempts,  he   is  obliged  to  content  himself  with    the 
insignificant  employment  of  fishing  with  a  line  ;  a  nail 
flattened,  sharpened  and  bent,  performs  the  office  of  a 
hook.    Success  ensues,  but  only  with  time  and  patience ; 

4 


50  THE    SOLITARY    OF    JUAN    FERNANDEZ, 

fortunately  the  sea-crabs  allow  themselves  to  be  caught 
with  the  hand,  and  the  fish-pond  does  not  long  remain 
useless  and  deserted. 

Besides,  has  not  our  fortunate  Selkirk  the  resource 
of  hunting  ?  The  chase  he  had  commenced  gene- 
rously, like  a  wise  monarch,  who  wages  war  only  for 
the  general  interest.  It  is  true,  that  as  it  happens  with 
most  wise  monarchs,  his  own  private  interest  is  also 
to  be  consulted,  at  least  he  thinks  so. 

Wild  cats  existed  in  the  island,  destroying  young 
broods,  agoutis,  and  other  small  game  ;  he  has  almost 
entirely  rid  it  of  these  pirates,  reserving  to  himself 
only  the  right  of  levying  upon  his  subjects  the  tribute 
of  blood.  He  has  already  signalized  his  administra- 
tion by  acts  of  an  entirely  different  nature. 

This  king  without  a  people,  is  ignorant  in  what 
part  of  the  great  ocean,  and  at  what  distance  from  its 
shores,  is  situated  his  nameless  kingdom. 

Armed  with  his  spy-glass,  by  the  aid  of  his  nautical 
charts,  he  attempts  to  ascertain,  by  the  position  of  the 
stars,  its  longitude  and  latitude.  He  at  first  believes 
himself  to  be  in  one  of  the  islands  forming  the  group 
of  Chiloe ;  his  calculations  rectified,  he  afterwards 
thinks  it  the  Island  of  Ju^n  Fernandez,  then  San  Am- 
brosio,  or  San  Felix.  Unable  to  determine  the  location 
exactly,  for  want  of  correct  instruments,  he  persuades 
himself  that  the  country  he  inhabits  has  never  been 
surveyed,  that  it  is  really  a  land  without  a  name,  and 
he  gives  it  his  own  ;  he  calls  it  Selkirk  Island. 

Ambitious  youth,  thou  hast  thus  realized  one  of  thy 
brightest  dreams  !  Dost  thou  remember  the  day  when, 
on  the  way  from  Largo  to  St.  Andrew,  to  join  William 


OR  THE  REAL  ROBINSON  CRUSOE.        51 

Dampier,  thou  didst  already  see  thyself  the  chief  of  a 
new  country,  discovered  and  baptized  by  thee  ? 

Well !  has  he  not  more  than  discovered  this  country  r 
He  inhabits  it,  he  governs  it,  he  reigns  in  it !  Not 
satisfied  with  mvincp  his  name  to  the  island,  he  soon 
creates  a  special  nomenclature  for  its  various  localities. 
To  the  shore  upon  which  he  landed,  he  gives  the  name 
of  Sicoi^dfish  Beach ;  the  pile  of  white  and  red  rocks, 
which  he  saw  through  the  fog,  is  the  False  Coquimbo  ; 
he  calls  Toucan  Forest^  the  wood  where  he  saw  that 
bird  for  the  first  time  ;  the  Defile  of  Attack^  is  that 
where  Marimonda  assaulted  him  with  stones  ;  upon 
these  arid  rocks,  furrowed  by  deep  ravines  and  abound- 
ing in  precipices,  he  has  imposed  the  odious  name  of 
Stradling  !  In  his  mountains  he  has  the  Oasis  ;  it  is 
a  little  shady  valley,  enlivened  by  the  murmur  of  a 
streamlet,  and  with  one  extremity  opening  to  the  sea. 
There  he  often  goes  to  watch  the  game  and  the  goats, 
which  come  to  drink  at  the  brook.  Above  it  rises  the 
table-land,  with  difficulty  scaled  by  him  on  the  day  of 
his  arrival,  and  from  whence  he  became  convinced 
that  he  had  landed  on  an  island.  Tiiis  table-land,  he 
has  named  The  Discovery. 

The  two  streams  which  meander  over  his  lawn,  and 
before  his  grotto,  have  also  received  names.  This, 
commissioned  to  feed  the  fish-pond,  and  which  gently 
warbles  through  the  grass,  he  calls  The  Linnet ;  the 
other,  interrupted  by  little  cascades,  and  whose  course 
is  more  rapid  and  impetuous,  he  calls  The  Stammerer, 

He  has  now  destroyed  the  noxious  animals,  admin- 
istered government,  opened  ways  of  communication, 
given  a  name  to  every  part  of  his  island.  How  many 
great  rulers  have  done  no  more  ! 


52  THE    SOLITARY    OF    JUAN    FERNANDEZ, 

But  his  labors  have  not  been  confined  to  his  fish- 
pond, his  bed  of  water-cresses,  his  hunting,  fishing, 
building,  felling  of  trees  ;  it  has  become  necessary 
to  procure  that  essential  element  of  civilization,  of 
comfort,  fire. 

What  could  the  opulent  proprietor  of  this  enchanting 
abode  do  without  fire  ?  Is  it  not  necessary,  if  he 
would  open  a  passage  through  the  dense  woods  ?  Is  it 
not  indispensable  to  his  kitchen  ?  Some  of  his  trees, 
it  is  true,  afford  fruits  in  abundance  ;  but  most  of  these 
fruits  are  of  a  dry  and  woody  nature  ;  besides,  young 
and  vigorous,  easily  acquiring  an  appetite  by  labor  and 
exercise,  can  he  content  himself  with  a  dinner  which 
is  only  a  dessert  ?  Surrounded  with  fishes  of  all 
colors,  with  feathered  and  other  game,  must  he  then 
be  reduced  to  dispute  with  the  agoutis,  their  maripa- 
nuts  ? 

He  reflects ;  armed  with  a  bit  of  iron,  he  strikes  the 
flinty  rocks  of  the  mountains,  to  elicit  from  them  use- 
less sparks.  He  then  remembers  that  savages  obtain 
fire  without  flint  and  matches,  by  the  friction  of  two 
pieces  of  dry  wood  ;  he  tries,  but  in  vain  ;  he  exhausts 
the  strength  of  his  arms,  without  being  discouraged ; 
he  tries  each  tree,  wishing  even  that  a  thunderbolt 
might  strike  the  island,  if  it  would  leave  there  a  trace 
of  burning.  At  last,  almost  discouraged,  he  attacks 
the  pimento-myrtle;!  he  recommences  his  customary 
efforts  of  rubbing.  The  twigs  grow  warm  with  the 
friction  ;  a  little  white  smoke  appears,  fluttering  to  and 

^  Myrtus  aromatica ;  its  berries  are  known  under  the  name 
of  Jamaica  pepper. 


OR  THE  REAL  ROBINSON  CRUSOE.        53 

fro  between  bis  bands,  rapid  and  trembling  witb  emo- 
tion. The  flame  bursts  fortb  !  lie  utters  a  cry  of  tri- 
umph, and,  hastily  collecting  other  twigs  and  dry 
reeds,  he  leaps  for  joy  around  his  fire,  which,  like 
another  Prometheus,  he  has  just  stolen,  not  from 
heaven,  but  from  earth  ! 

Afterwards,  in  his  gratitude,  he  runs  to  the  myrtle, 
embraces  it,  kisses  it.  An  act  of  folly,  perhaps ;  per- 
haps an  act  of  gratitude,  which  ascended  higher  than 
the  topmost  branches  of  the  trees,  higher  than  the 
culminating  summits  of  the  mountains  of  the  island. 

But  this  fire,  must  he,  each  time  he  may  need  it,  go 
through  the  same  tedious  process  ?  Not  far  from  his 
grotto,  in  a  cavity  which  a  projecting  rock  protects 
from  the  sea  breeze,  he  piles  up  wood  and  brush,  sets 
fire  to  it,  keeps  it  alive  from  time  to  time,  by  the  addi- 
tion of  combustibles,  and  comprehends  why,  among 
primitive  nations,  the  earliest  worship  should  have  been 
that  of  fire  ;  why,  from  Zoroaster  to  the  Vestals,  the 
care  of  preserving  it  should  have  been  held  sacred. 

At  a  later  period,  in  the  ordinary  course  of  things, 
he  simplified  his  means  of  preservation.  Whh  some 
threads  and  the  fat  of  his  game,  he  contrived  a  lamp  ; 
still  later,  he  had  oil,  and  reeds  served  him  for  wicks. 

Dating  from  this  moment,  the  entire  island  paid 
tribute  to  him  ;  the  crabs,  the  eels,  the  flesh  of  the 
agouti,  savory  like  that  of  the  rabbit,  by  turns  figured 
on  his  table.  When  he  seasoned  them  with  some 
morsels  of  pork,  substituting  ship  biscuit  for  bread,  his 
repasts  were  fit  for  an  admiral. 

Although  the  goats  had  become  wild,  like  the  other 
inhabitants  of  the  island,   since   all  had  learned  the 


54  THE    SOLITARY    OF    JUAN    FERNANDEZ, 

nature  of  man,  and  of  the  thunder,  which  he  directed 
at  his  will,  Selkirk  still  surprised  them  within  gun-shot. 
Not  only  was  their  flesh  profitable  for  food  ;  their 
horns,  long  and  hollow,  served  to  contain  powder  and 
other  small  articles  necessary  to  his  house-keeping  ;  of 
their  skins  he  made  carpets,  coverings,  and  bags  to 
protect  his  provisions  from  dampness.  He  even  man- 
ufactured a  game-pouch,  which  he  constantly  carried 
when  hunting. 

His  salt  fish,  his  biscuit,  some  well  smoked  quarters 
of  goat's  flesh,  and  the  productions  of  his  fish-pond,  at 
present  constitute  a  store  on  which  he  can  live  for  a 
long  time,  without  any  care,  but  to  ameliorate  his 
condition. 

He  is  now  in  possession  of  all  the  enjoyments  he 
has  coveted,  abundance,  leisure,  absolute  freedom. 

And  yet,  his  brow  is  sometimes  clouded,  and  an 
unaccountable  uneasiness  torments  him ;  something 
seems  wanting  ;  his  appetite  fails,  his  courage  grows 
feeble,  his  reveries  are  painfully  prolonged.  But,  by 
mature  reflection,  he  has  discovered  the  cause  of  the 
evil. 

What  is  it  that  is  so  essential  to  his  happiness  ? 
Tobacco. 

Our  factitious  wants  often  exercise  over  us  a  more 
tyrannical  empire,  than  our  real  ones  ;  it  seems  as  if 
we  clung  with  more  force  and  tenacity  to  this  second 
nature,  because  we  have  ourselves  created  it ;  it  origi- 
nates in  us ;  the  other  originates  with  God,  and  is 
common  to  all ! 

Selkirk  now  persuades  himself  that  tobacco  alone  is 
wanting    to   his  comfort ;    it   is    this    privation    which 


OR  THE  REAL  ROBINSON  CRUSOE.        55 

throws  him  into  these  sorrowful  fits  of  languor.  If 
Stradling  had  only  given  him  a  good  stock  of  tobacco, 
he  would  have  pardoned  all  ;  he  no  longer  feels 
courage  to  hate  him.  What  to  him  imports  the  plenty 
which  surrounds  him,  if  he  has  no  tobacco  ?  of  what 
use  is  his  leisure,  if  he  cannot  spend  it  in  smoking  ? 
what  avails  even  this  fire,  which  he  has  just  conquered, 
if  he  is  prevented  from  lighting  his  pipe  at  it  ? 

Careworn  and  dissatisfied,  he  was  wandering  one 
morning  through  his  domains,  with  his  gun  on  his 
shoulder,  his  hatchet  at  his  belt,  when  he  perceived 
something  dancing  on  a  point  of  land,  shadowed  by 
tall  canes. 

It  was  Marimonda. 

At  sight  of  her  enemy,  she  darted  lightly  and  rapidly 
behind  a  woody  hillock.  An  instant  afterwards,  he 
saw  her  tranquilly  seated  on  the  topmost  branch  of  a 
tree,  holding  in  each  of  her  hands  fruits  which  she  was 
alternately  striking  against  the  branch,  and  against 
each  other,  to  break  their  tough  envelope. 

The  sight  of  Marimonda  has  always  awakened  in 
Selkirk  a  sentiment  of  repulsion  ;  she  not  only  reminds 
him  of  Stradling,  but  with  her  withered  cheeks,  pro- 
jecting jaw,  and  especially  her  dancing  motion,  he 
now  imagines  that  she  resembles  him  ;  and  yet,  paus- 
ing before  her,  he  contemplates  her  not  without  a 
lively  emotion  of  surprise  and  interest. 

He  had  already  encountered  her  within  gun-shot, 
when  engaged  in  the  destruction  of  the  wild  cats,  and 
had  asked  himself  whether  he  should  not  reckon  her 
among  noxious  animals.  But  then  Marimonda,  with 
her  hand  constantly  pressed  against  her  side,  was  with 


56  THE    SOLITARY    OF    JUAN    FERNANDEZ, 

the  Other  seizing  various  herbs,  which  she  tasted, 
bruised  between  her  teeth,  and  applied  to  her  wound  ; 
useless  remedies,  doubtless,  for,  grown  meagre,  her 
hair  dull  and  bristling,  she  seemed  to  have  but  a  few 
days  to  live,  and  Selkirk  thought  her  not  worth  a 
charge  of  powder  and  shot. 

And  here  he  finds  her  alert  and  healthy,  holding  in 
the  same  hand  which  had  served  as  a  compress,  no 
longer  the  plant  necessary  for  her  cure,  but  the  fruit 
desirable  for  her  sustenance. 

'  What,'  said  Selkirk  to  himself,  '  in  an  island 
where  this  frightful  monkey  has  never  before  been, 
she  has  succeeded  in  finding  without  difficulty  the 
herha  sacra,  that  which  has  restored  her  to  health  and 
strength !  and  I,  Selkirk,  who  have  studied  at  one  of 
the  principal  univershies  of  Scotland,  I  am  vainly 
sighing  for  the  plant  which  would  suffice  to  render  me 
completely  happy  !  Is  instinct  then  superior  to  reason  ? 
To  believe  this,  would  be  ingratitude  to  Providence. 
Instinct  is  necessary,  indispensable  to  animals,  be- 
cause they  cannot  benefit  by  the  traditions  of  their 
ancestors.  The  monkey  has  consulted  her  instinct, 
and  it  has  inspired  her ;  if  I  consult  reason,  what  will 
be  her  counsel  ?  She  will  advise  me  to  do  like  the 
monkey ;  to  seek  the  herb  of  which  I  feel  so  great  a 
want,  or  at  least  to  endeavor  to  substitute  for  it  some- 
thing analogous  ;  to  choose,  try,  and  taste,  in  short,  to 
follow  the  example  of  Marimonda  !  I  will  not  fail  to 
do  so  ;  but  it  is  nature  reversed,  and,  for  a  man,  it  is 
too  humiliating  to  see  himself  reduced  to  imitate  a 
monkey  ! ' 


OR  THE  REAL  ROBINSON  CRUSOE.        57 


CHAPTER  VI. 

The  Hammock.  —  Poison.  —  Success.  —  A  Calm  under  the 
Tropics.  —  Invasion  of  the  Island.  —  War  and  Plunder.  — 
The  Oasis.  —  The  Spy-Glass.  —  Reconciliation. 

Do  you  see,  upon  a  carpet  of  fresh  verdure,  the 
sandy  margin  of  which  is  bathed  by  a  caressing  wave, 
that  hammock  suspended  to  the  branches  of  those  fine 
trees  .^  What  happy  mortal,  during  the  heat  of  the 
day,  is  there  gently  rocked,  gently  refreshed,  by  a  light 
sea  breeze  ?  It  is  Selkirk  ;  and  this  hammock  is  his 
sail,  attached  to  his  tall  myrtles  by  strips  of  goat-skin. 
Perhaps  he  is  resting  after  the  fatigues  of  the  day  ? 
No,  it  is  the  day  of  the  Lord,  and  Selkirk  now  can 
consecrate  the  Sabbath  to  repose.  With  his  eyes  half 
closed,  he  is  inhaling,  undoubtedly,  the  perfume  of  his 
myrtles,  the  soft  fragrance  of  his  heliotropes  ?  No, 
something  sweeter  still  pre-occupies  him.  Is  he 
dreamins  of  his  friends  in  Scotland,  of  his  first  love  ? 
He  has  never  known  friendship,  and  the  beautiful 
Catherine  is  far  from  his  memory.  What  is  he  then 
doing  in  his  hammock  }     He  is  smoking  his  pipe. 

His  pipe  !  Has  he  a  pipe  ?  He  has  them  of  all 
forms,  aU  sizes- — made  of  spiral  shells  of  various 
kinds,  of  maripa-nuts,  of  large  reeds ;  all  set  in 
handles  of  myrtle,  stalks  of  coarse  grain,  or  the 
hollow  bones  of  birds.     In  these  he  is  luxurious  ;  he  has 


58  THE    SOLITARY    OF    JUAN    FERNANDEZ, 

become  a  connoisseur ;  but  this  has  not  been  the  diffi- 
culty.    Before  every  thing  else,  tobacco  was  wanting. 

In  consequence  of  his  encounter  with  Marimonda, 
he  ransacked  the  woods  and  meadows,  seeking  among 
all  plants  those  which  approximated  nearest  to  the 
nature  of  the  nicotiana.  As  it  was  necessary  to  judge 
by  their  taste,  he  bit  their  leaves  —  chewed  them,  still 
in  imitation  of  the  monkey :  but,  to  his  new  and  pro- 
found humiliation,  less  skilful  or  less  fortunate  than  the 
latter,  he  obtained  at  first  no  other  result  than  a  sort  of 
poisoning :  one  of  these  plants  being  poisonous. 

For  several  days  he  saw  himself  condemned  to 
absolute  repose  and  a  spare  diet.  His  mouth,  swollen, 
excoriated,  refused  all  nourishment ;  his  throat  was 
burning ;  his  body  was  covered  with  an  eruption,  and 
his  languid  and  trembling  limbs  scarcely  permitted  him 
to  drag  himself  to  the  stream  to  quench  there  the  thirst 
by  which  he  was  devoured. 

He  believed  himself  about  to  die  ;  and  grief  then 
imposing  silence  on  pride,  with  his  eyes  turned  towards 
the  sea,  he  allowed  a  long-repressed  sigh  to  escape  his 
heart.     It  was  a  regret  for  his  absent  country. 

Very  soon  these  alarming  symptoms  disappeared  ; 
his  strength  returned  ;  his  water-cresses  and  wild  sorrel 
completed  the  cure.  Would  he  have  dared  to  ask  it  of 
the  other  productions  of  his  island  ?  He  had  become 
suspicious  of  nature  ;  these,  at  least,  he  had  long 
known. 

Scarcely  had  he  recovered,  when  'the  want  of  to- 
bacco made  itself  felt  anew  with  more  force  than  ever. 
What  to  him  imports  experiment,  what  imports  dan- 
ger?    Is  it  not  to  procure  this  precious,  indispensable 


OR  THE  REAL  ROBINSON  CRUSOE.         59 

herb,  —  which  the  world  had  easily  done  without  for 
thousands  of  years  ? 

This  time,  nevertheless,  become  more  prudent,  he 
no  longer  addresses  himself  to  the  sense  of  taste  ;  but 
to  odor,  to  that  of  smell.  He  has  resolved  to  dry  the 
different  plants  which  appear  to  him  most  proper  for 
the  use  to  which  he  destines  them,  and  to  submit  them 
afterwards  to  a  trial  by  fire.  Will  not  the  smoke 
which  escapes  from  them  easily  enable  him  to  dis- 
cover the  qualities  which  he  requires,  since  it  is  in 
smoke  that  they  are  to  evaporate,  if  he  succeeds  in  his 
researches  ? 

Of  this  grand  collection  of  aromatics,  two  plants,  at 
last,  come  off  victorious.  One  is  the  petunia,  that 
charming  flower  which  at  present  decorates  all  our 
gardens,  whence  the  enemies  of  tobacco  may  one  day 
banish  it ;  so  it  is  only  with  trembling  that  I  here 
announce  its  relationship  to  the  nicotiana ;  the  other, 
which,  like  the  petunia,  grows  in  profusion  in  the  islands 
as  well  as  on  the  continent  of  Southern  America,  is 
the  herb  coca^  improperly  so  called,  for  its  precious 
leaves,  which  are  to  the  natives  of  Peru  and  Chili, 
what  the  hetel  is  for  the  Indians  of  Malabar,  grow  on 
an  elegant  shrub.  ^ 

These  two  plants,  separately  or  together,  composed, 
thanks  to  a  slight  amalgam  of  chalk,  sea- water,  and 
bruised  pepper-corns,  the  most  delicious  tobacco. 

Now,  half  awake,  Selkirk  smokes,  as  he  busies 
himself  with  constructing  some  necessary  article,  such 
as  a  ladder,  a  stool,  a  basket  of  rushes,  with  which  he 

*  The  eri/throxi/Ium  coca. 


60  THE    SOLITARY    OF    JUAN    FERNANDEZ, 

is  completing  the  furniture  of  his  house  ;  he  smokes 
while  fishing,  and  while  hunting  ;  on  his  return  to  his 
dwelling,  he  lies  down  at  the  entrance  of  his  grotto, 
on  his  bank  of  turf,  re-lights  his  pipe  at  his  fire,  and 
smokes ;  at  the  hour  of  breakfast  or  of  dinner,  seated 
beneath  the  shade  of  his  mimosa,  his  elbow  on  the 
table,  his  Bible  open  before  him,  he  smokes  still. 

Well !  notwithstanding  these  pleasures  so  long  de- 
sired, notwithstanding  this  addition  to  his  comfort, 
notwithstanding  his  pipe,  this  vague  uneasiness  some- 
times assails  him  anew. 

He  ascribes  it  to  enfeebled  health  ;  and  yet  he 
remains  active  and  vigorous ;  he  ascribes  it  to  the 
powerful  odors  of  certain  trees  which  aflfect  his 
brain.  These  trees  he  destroys  around  him,  but 
his  uneasiness  continues ;  he  ascribes  it  to  his  food, 
the  insipidity  of  the  fish  which  he  has  eaten  without 
salt,  since  his  quarter  of  pork  is  consumed,  and  his 
stores  of  pickled  fish  exhausted.  In  fact,  the  flesh  of 
fish  has  for  some  time  given  him  a  nausea,  occasioned 
frequent  indigestions ;  he  renounces  it ;  his  stomach 
recovers  its  tone  ;  but  his  fits  of  torpor  and  melan- 
choly continue. 

This  state  of  suffering  is  most  painful  at  those 
moments  of  profound  calm,  common  between  the 
tropics,  when  the  birds  are  silent,  when  from  the  thick- 
ets and  burrows  issue  no  murmurs,  when  the  insect 
seems  to  sleep  within  the  closed  corollas  of  the  flow- 
ers ;  when  the  leaves  of  the  mimosa  fold  themselves  ; 
when  the  tree-tops  are  not  swayed  by  the  slightest 
breath  of  air,  and  the  sea,  motionless,  ceases  to  dash 
against  the  shore.     What  an  inexpressible  weight  such 


OR    THE    REAL    ROBINSON    CRUSOE.  61 

a  silence  adds  to  isolation !  And  yet  it  is  not  an 
unbroken  silence,  for  then  a  shrill  and  harsh  sound 
seems  to  grate  upon  the  ear.  It  is  as  if  in  this  mute- 
ness of  nature,  one  could  hear  the  motion  of  the  earth 
on  its  axis;  then,  above  his  head,  in  the  depths  of 
immensity,  the  whirling  of  the  celestial  spheres  and 
myriads  of  worlds  which  gravitate  in  space.  Thought 
becomes  troubled  and  exhausted  before  this  overwhelm- 
ing and  terrible  immobility,  and  the  man  who,  at  such 
a  moment,  cannot  have  recourse  to  his  kind,  to  distract 
or  re-assure  him,  is  overpowered  with  his  own  insig- 
nificance. 

Sometimes  the  solitary  calls  on  himself  to  break  this 
oppressive  and  painful  silence  ;  he  articulates  a  few 
words  aloud,  and  his  voice  inspires  him  with  fear;  it 
seems  formidable  and  unnatural. 

During  one  of  these  sinister  calms,  in  which  every 
thing  in  creation  seemed  to  pause,  even  the  heart  of 
man,  seated  on  the  shore,  not  having  even  strength 
to  smoke,  Selkirk  was  vainly  awaiting  the  evening 
breeze ;  nothing  came,  but  the  obscurity  of  night. 
The  moon,  delaying  her  appearance,  submitting  in 
her  turn  to  the  sluggishness  of  all  things,  seemed 
detained  below  the  circle  of  the  horizon  by  some 
fatal  power ;  the  sea  was  dull,  gloomy,  and  as  it  were 
congealed. 

Suddenly,  though  there  was  not  a  breath  of  air, 
Selkirk  saw  at  his  right,  on  a  vast  but  limited  tract 
of  ocean,  the  waves  violently  agitated  and  foaming. 
He  thought  he  distinguished  a  multitude  of  barques 
and  canoes  furrowing  the  surface  of  the  waters ;  not 
far  from  Swordfish  Beach,  the  flotilla  enters  a  little 
cove  running  up  into  the  mountains. 


02  THE    SOLITARY    OF    JUAN    FERNANDEZ, 

He  no  longer  sees  any  thing  ;  but  he  hears  a  frightful 
tumult  of  discordant  cries. 

There  is  no  room  for  doubt !  some  Indian  tribes, 
pursued  perhaps  by  new  conquerors  from  Europe, 
have  just  disembarked  on  the  shore.  Wo  to  him  !  he 
can  hope  from  them  neither  pity  nor  mercy.  A  cold 
sweat  bathes  his  forehead  ;  he  runs  to  his  grotto,  takes 
his  gun,  puts  in  his  goatskin  pouch  some  horns  of 
powder  and  shot,  a  piece  of  smoked  meat,  not  forget- 
ting his  Bible  !  and  passes  the  night  wandering  in  the 
woods,  in  the  mountains,  a  prey  to  a  thousand  terroi*s ; 
hearing  without  cessation  the  steps  of  pursuers  behind 
him,  and  seeing  fiery  eyes  glaring  at  him  through  the 
thickets. 

At  day-break,  with  a  thousand  precautions,  he  re- 
turns to  his  grotto.  He  finds  the  beach  covered  with 
seals. 

These  were  the  enemies  whose  invasion  had  so 
alarmed  him. 

It  is  now  the  middle  of  the  month  of  February, 
the  period  of  the  greatest  tropical  heats,  and  these 
amphibia,  having  left  the  shores  of  Chili  or  Peru, 
are  accomplishing  one  of  their  periodical  migrations. 
They  have  just  taken  possession  of  the  island,  one  of 
their  accustomed  stations.  But  the  island  has  now  a 
master. 

Where  he  expected  to  encounter  a  peril,  Selkirk 
finds  amusement,  a  subject  of  study,  perhaps  a  re- 
source. 

A  long  time  ago  he  has  read,  in  the  narratives  of 
voyagers,  singular  stories  concerning  these  marine 
animals,  these  lions,  these  sea-elephants,  flocks  of  old 


OR  THE  REAL  ROBINSON  CRUSOE.         63 

Neptune,  who  have  their  chiefs,  their  pacha  ;  who 
are  acquainted  with  and  practise  the  discipline  of  war  ; 
stationing  vigilant  sentinels  in  the  spots  they  occupy, 
communicating  to  each  other  a  pass-word,  and  atten- 
tive to  the  Qui  vive? 

He  spies  them,  he  watches  them,  he  takes  pleasure 
in  examining  their  grotesque  forms,  —  half  quadruped, 
half  fish  ;  their  feet  encased  in  a  sort  of  web,  and  ter- 
minated by  crooked  claws,  with  which  they  creep  on 
the  earth  ;  their  skins  covered  with  short  and  glossy 
hair;  their  round  heads  and  eyes. 

He  is  a  witness  of  their  sports,  their  combats ;  but 
very  soon  their  frightful  roaring  and  bellowing  annoys 
him,  and  makes  him  regret  the  silence  of  his  solitude. 
Another  cause  of  complaint  against  them  soon  arises. 

One  morning,  Selkirk  finds  his  fish-pond  and  bed  of 
water-cresses  devastated. 

Exasperated,  he  declares  war  against  the  invaders  : 
during  three  days  he  tracks  them,  pursues  them  ;  ten 
of  them  fall  beneath  his  balls,  leaving  the  shore  bathed 
in  their  blood.  The  rest  at  last  take  flight,  and  the 
army  of  seals,  regaining  the  sea  with  despairing  cries, 
goes  to  establish  itself  at  the  other  extremity  of  the 
island. 

This  war  has  been  profitable  to  the  conqueror. 
With  the  skin  of  the  vanquished  he  makes  himself  a 
new  hammock,  which  permits  him  to  employ  his  sail 
for  other  uses ;  he  also  makes  leather  bottles,  in  which 
he  preserves  the  oil  which  he  extracts  in  abundance 
from  their  fat.  Now  he  can  have  a  lamp  constantly 
burning,  even  by  night.  He  has  all  the  comforts  of 
life.     Of  the  hairy  skin  of  the  seals,  he  manufactures 


64  THE    SOLITARY    OF    JUAN    FERNANDEZ, 

a  broad-brimmed  hat,  which  shields  him  from  the  burn- 
ing rays  of  the  sun.  He  tastes  their  flesh  ;  it  appears 
to  him  insipid  and  nauseous,  like  that  of  the  fish ; 
but  the  tongue,  the  heart,  seasoned  with  pepper,  are 
for  him  quite  a  luxury. 

Days,  weeks,  months  roll  away  in  the  same  toils,  the 
same  recreations.  Whatever  he  may  do  to  drive  it 
away,  this  apathetic  sadness,  this  sinking  of  soul, 
which  has  already  tormented  him  at  different  periods, 
becomes  with  Selkirk  more  and  more  frequent ;  he 
cannot  conquer  it  as  he  did  the  seals.  His  seals,  he 
now  regrets.  When  they  were  encamped  on  the 
shore,  they  at  least  gave  him  something  to  look  at,  an 
amusement ;  something  lived,  moved,  near  him. 

When  he  finds  himself  a  prey  to  these  fits,  which,  in 
his  pride,  he  persists  in  attributing  to  transient  indis- 
position, he  goes  to  walk  in  the  mountains,  taking  with 
him  only  his  pipe,  his  Bible,  and  his  spy-glass. 

He  often  pursues  his  journey  as  far  as  the  oasis; 
there,  he  seats  himself  at  the  extremity  of  the  little  val- 
ley, opposite  the  sea,  from  which  his  eye  can  traverse  its 
immense  extent.  He  opens  the  holy  book,  and  closes 
it  immediately  ;  then,  his  brow  reddening,  he  seizes  his 
spy-glass,  levels  it,  and  remains  entire  hours  measur- 
ing the  ocean,  wave  by  wave. 

What  is  he  looking  for  there  ?  He  seeks  a  sail,  a 
sail  which  shall  come  to  his  island  and  bear  him  from 
his  desert,  from  his  ennui.  His  ennui  he  can  no 
longer  dissimulate  ;  this  is  the  evil  of  his  solitude. 

One  day,  while  he  was  at  this  spot,  the  setting  sun 
suddenly  illuminated  a  black  point,  against  which  the 
waves  seemed  to  break  in  foam,  as  against  the  prow  of 


5t^ 


OR  THE  REAL  ROBINSON  CRUSOE.        65 

a  ship  ;  his  eyes  become  dim,  a  tremor  seizes  him. 
He  looks  again  —  keeps  his  glass  for  a  long  time  fixed 
on  the  same  object,  but  the  black  point  does  not  stir. 

'  Another  illusion  ! '  said  he  to  himself;  '  it  is  a  reef, 
a  rock  which  the  tide  has  left  bare.' 

He  wipes  the  glasses  of  his  spy-glass,  he  examines 
again  ;  he  seems  to  see  the  waves  whiten  and  whirl  for 
a  large  space  around  this  rock. 

'  Can  it  be  an  island  ?  If  an  island,  is  it  inhabited  ? 
I  will  construct  a  barque,  and  if  God  has  pity  on  me  I 
will  reach  it.' 

At  this  moment  he  hears  footsteps  resound  on  the 
dry  leaves  which  the  wind  has  swept  into  the  little 
valley.     He  turns  hastily. 

It  is  Marimonda. 

Marimonda  has  no  longer  her  lively  and  dancing 
motions ;  she  also  seems  languid,  sad.  At  sight  of 
Selkirk,  she  makes  a  movement  as  if  to  flee  ;  but 
almost  immediately  advances  a  little,  and,  sorrowful, 
with  bent  brow,  sits  down  on  a  bank  not  far  from  him. 

Has  she  then  remarked  that  he  is  without  arms  ? 

On  his  side,  Selkirk  who  had  not  met  her  for  a  long 
time,  seemed  to  have  forgotten  his  former  aversion. 

At  all  events,  is  she  not  the  most  intelligent  being 
chance  has  placed  near  him  ?  He  remembers  that,  in 
the  ship,  she  obeyed  the  voice,  the  gesture  of  the 
captain,  and  that  her  tricks  amused  the  whole  crew. 
This  resemblance  to  the  human  form,  which  he  at  first 
disliked,  now  awakens  in  him  ideas  of  indulgence  and 
peace.  He  reproaches  himself  with  having  treated 
her  so  brutally,  when  the  poor  animal,  who  alone  had 
accompanied  him  into  exile,  at  first  accosted  him  with 

5 


66  THE    SOLITARY    OF   JUAN    FERNANDEZ, 

a  caress.  And  now  she  returns,  laying  aside  all  ill-will, 
forgetting  even  the  wound  which  she  received  from 
him  in  an  impulse  of  irritation  and  hatred,  of  which 
she  was  not  the  object,  for  which  she  ought  not  to  be 
responsible. 

He  therefore  makes  to  her  a  little  sign  with  the  head. 

Marimonda  replies  by  winks  of  the  eye  and  motions 
of  the  shoulders,  which  Selkirk  thinks  not  wholly  desti- 
tute of  grace, 

He  rises  and  approaches  her,  saluting  her  with  an 
amicable  gesture. 

She  awaits  him,  chattering  with  her  teeth  and  lips 
with  an  expression  of  joy, 

Selkirk  gently  passes  his  hand  over  her  forehead 
and  neck,  calling  her  by  name  ;  then  he  starts  for  Ifis 
habitation,  and  Marimonda  follows  him.  The  man 
and  the  monkey  have  just  been  reconciled.  Both  were 
tired  of  their  isolation, 


OR  THE  REAL  ROBINSON  CRUSOE,        67 


CHAPTER  VTI. 

A  Tete-a-U'te.  — The  Monkey's  Goblet.  — The  Palace.  — A  Re- 
moval. —  Winter  under  the  Tropics  — Plans  for  the  Future. 
—  Properly.  —  A  burst  of  Laughter.  —  Misfortune  not  far 
off. 

Tranquillity  of  mind  has  returned  to  our  solitary  ; 
now,  his  reveries  are  more  pleasant  and  less  prolonged  ; 
his  walks  through  the  woods,  his  moments  of  repose 
during  the  heat  of  the  day  seem  more  endurable  since 
somethings  besides  his  shadow,  keeps  him  company ; 
he  has  resumed  his  taste  for  labor  since  there  is  some- 
hody  to  look  at  him  ;  speech  has  returned  to  him  since 
somebody  replies  to  his  voice.  This  somebody^  this 
somethings  is  Marimonda. 

Marimonda  is  now  the  companion  of  Selkirk,  his 
friend,  his  slave  ;  she  seems  to  comprehend  his  slightest 
gestures  and  even  his  ennui.  To  amuse  him,  she 
resorts  to  a  thousand  expedients,  a  thousand  tricks  of 
the. agility  peculiar  to  her  race  ;  she  goes,  she  comes, 
she  runs,  she  leaps,  she  bounds,  she  chatters  at  his 
side ;  she  tries  to  people  his  solitude,  to  make  a 
rustling  around  him  ;  she  brings  him  his  pipes,  rocks 
him  in  his  hammock,  and,  for  all  these  cares,  all  this 
attention,  demands  only  a  caress,  which  is  no  longer 
refused. 

She   is  often  a  spectator  of  her  master's  repasts ; 


68  THE    SOLITARY    OF    JUAN    FERNANDEZ, 

sometimes  even  shares  them.  This  was  at  first  a 
favor,  afterwards  a  habit,  as  in  the  case  of  honest  coun- 
trymen, who,  secluded  from  the  world,  by  degrees 
admit  their  servants  into  their  intimacy.  Selkirk  had 
not  to  fear  the  importunate,  unexpected  visit  of  a  neigh- 
bor or  a  curious  stranger. 

So  it  is  in  the  open  air,  on  the  latticed  table,  in  the 
shade  of  his  great  mimosa,  that  these  repasts  in  com- 
mon take  place  ;  the  master  occupies  the  bench,  the 
servant  humbly  seats  herself  on  the  stool,  ready,  at  the 
first  signal,  to  leave  her  place  and  assist  in  serving. 
Have  we  not  seen  in  India,  ourang-outangs  trained  to 
perform  the  office  of  domestics  ?  and  Marimonda  was 
in  nothing  inferior  in  intelligence  and  activity. 

She  is  now  fond  of  the  flesh  of  the  goat,  of  that  of 
the  coatis  and  agoutis^  for  monkeys  easily  become 
carnivorous  ;  but  the  table  is  also  sometimes  covered 
with  the  products  of  her  hunting.  If  the  dessert  fails, 
she  hastily  interrupts  her  repast,  leaves  the  master  to 
continue  his  alone,  buries  herself  in  the  surrounding 
woods,  reaches  in  three  bounds  the  tops  of  the  trees, 
and  quickly  returns  with  a  supply  of  fruits  which  he 
can  fearlessly  taste,  for  she  knows  them. 

Selkirk  was  one  day  a  witness  of  the  singular  facility 
with  which  she  could  supply  her  wants. 

At  the  morning  repast,  seeing  him  use  one  of  his 
coooa-nuts  which  he  had  fashioned  in  the  form  of  a 
cup  to  drink  from  ;  in  her  instinct  of  imitation,  she 
had  attempted  to  seize  the  cup  in  her  turn  ;  a  look  of 
reprimand  stopped  her  short  in  her  attempt.  Whether 
she  felt  a  species  of  humiliation  at  being  forced  to 
quench  her  thirst  in  the  presence  of  her  master,  by 


OR  THE  REAL  ROBINSON  CRUSOE.        69 

going  to  the  banks  of  the  stream  and  lapping  there, 
like  a  vulgar  animal  ;  or  whether  the  reprimand  had 
painfully  affected  her,  she  abstained  from  drinking  and 
remained  for  some  time  quiet  and  dreamy  ;  but  at  the 
following  repast,  with  lifted  head  and  sparkling  eye  she 
resumed  her  place  on  the  stool,  provided  with  a  goblet, 
a  goblet  belonging  to  her,  lawfully  obtained  by  her, 
and,  with  an  air  of  triumph  presented  it  to  Selkirk, 
who,  wondering,  did  not  hesitate  an  instant  to  share 
with  the  monkey  the  water  contained  in  his  gourd. 

This  goblet  was  the  ligneous  and  impermeable  cap- 
sule, the  fruit,  naturally  and  deeply  hollowed  out,  of  a 
tree  called  quatela.^  It  was  thus  that  the  intelligent 
Marimonda,  after  having  borrowed  from^the  numerous 
vegetables  of  the  island  their  leaves,  to  ameliorate  her 
sufferings,  to  heal  her  wounds ;  their  fruits  for  her 
nourishment  and  even  for  her  sports,  also  found  means 
to  obtain  the  divers  utensils  for  house-keeping  of  which 
she  stood  in  need. 

Charmed  with  her  gentleness,  her  docility,  the  affec- 
tion she  seemed  to  bear  him,  Selkirk  grew  more  and 
more  attached  to  her.  Winter,  that  is,  the  rainy  season 
which  usually  lasts  in  these  regions  during  the  months  of 
June  and  July,  was  approaching  ;  he  suffered  in  antici- 
pation, from  the  idea  that  during  this  time  his  gentle 
companion  would  not  be  able  to  retain  her  habitual 
shelter,  beneath  the  foliage  of  the  trees  ;  he  conceived 
the  project  of  giving  up  to  her  his  grotto,  and  construct- 

^  The  hcythis  quatela,  of  the  family  of  the  lecythidees,  created 
by  Professor  Richard,  and  whose  singular  fruits  bear,  in  Peru 
as  well  as  in  Chili,  the  denomination  of  vionkey^s  goblets. 


70  THE    SOLITARY    OF    JUAN    FERNANDEZ, 

ing  for  himself  a  new  habitation,  spacious  and  commo- 
dious. It  is  thus  that  our  most  generous  resolutions, 
whatever  we  may  design  to  do,  encountering  in  their 
way  personal  interest,  often  turn  to  the  increase  of  our 
own  private  welfare. 

At  a  little  distance  from  the  grotto,  but  farther  in- 
land, on  the  banks  of  the  stream  called  the  Linnet^ 
there  was  a  thicket  of  verdure  shaded  by  five  myrtles 
of  from  fifteen  to  twenty  feet  in  height,  and  whose 
stems  presented  a  diameter  more  than  sufficient  to 
insure  the  solidity  of  the  edifice.  Four  of  these 
myrtles  formed  an  irregular  square  ;  the  fifth  arose  in 
the  midst,  or  nearly  so ;  but  our  architect  is  not  very 
particular.  I^e  already  sees  the  principal  part  of  his 
frame  ;  the  myrtles  will  remain  in  their  places,  their 
roots  serving  as  a  foundation.  He  removes  the  shrubs, 
the  plants,  the  brushwood  from  the  thicket,  leaving 
only  a  heliotrope  which,  at  a  later  period,  may  twine 
around  his  house  and  at  evening  shed  its  perfumes. 
He  has  become  reconciled  to  its  fragrance.  He  trims 
the  trees,  cuts  off*  their  tops  eight  feet  above  the  ground, 
leaving  the  middle  one,  which  is  to  sustain  the  roof,  a 
foot  higher  ;  for  this  roof  reeds  and  palm-leaves  furnish 
all  the  materials.  The  walls,  made  of  a  solid  network 
of  young  branches  interwoven,  and  plastered  with  a 
mixture  of  sand,  clay,  and  chopped  rushes,  he  takes 
care  not  to  build  quite  to  the  top,  but  to  leave  between 
them  and  the  roof  a  little  space,  where  the  air  can  cir- 
culate freely  through  a  light  trellis  formed  of  branches 
of  the  blue  willow. 

Then,  having  finished  his  work  in  less  than  a  fort- 
night, he  contemplates  it  and  admires  it  ;  Marimonda 


OR  THE  REAL  ROBINSON  CRUSOE.        71 

herself  seems  to  share  in  his  admiration,  and  in  her 
joy  climbing  up  the  new  building,  she  begins  to  leap, 
to  dance  on  the  roof  of  foliage,  which  bears  her,  and 
thus  gives  to  Selkirk  an  additional  triumph. 

He  now  proceeds  to  furnish  his  palace  ;  he  trans- 
ports thither  his  bed  of  reeds  and  his  goatskin  cover- 
ings. How  much  better  will  he  be  sheltered  here  than 
under  the  gloomy  vault  of  his  grotto  !  How  has  he 
been  able  to  content  himself  so  long  with  such  an 
abode,  more  suitable  for  a  troglodyte  or  a  monkey ! 
He  will  no  longer  be  obliged  to  lift  up  his  curtain  of 
vines,  and  to  peep  through  the  fans  of  his  palm-trees, 
in  order  to  behold  the  beneficent  rays  of  the  new-born 
day ;  they  will  come  of  themselves  to  find  him  and 
rejoice  him  at  his  awakening,  as  the  sea-breezes  will  at 
evening  breathe  on  him,  to  refresh  him  in  his  repose. 

Already  has  the  interior  of  his  cabin,  of  his  palace, 
assumed  an  aspect  which  charms  him  ;  his  guns,  his 
hatchets,  his  spy-glass,  his  instruments  of  labor,  well 
polished  and  shining,  suspended  in  racks,  upon  wooden 
pegs,  decorate  the  walls  ;  upon  another  partition,  his 
assortment  of  pipes  are  arranged  on  a  shelf  according 
to  their  size  ;  on  his  central  pillar,  he  suspends  his 
game-bag,  his  gourd,  his  tobacco-pouch,  and  various 
articles  of  daily  use.  As  for  his  iron  pot,  his  smoked 
meat,  his  stock  of  skins,  and  bottles  of  seal-oil,  he 
leaves  them  under  the  guardianship  of  Marimonda  in 
the  grotto  which  he  will  now  make  his  store -house,  his 
kitchen  :  he  will  not  encumber  with  them  his  new 
dwelling. 

He  now  sets  himself  to  prepare  new  furniture ;  he 
will  construct  a  small  portable  table,  two  wooden  seats, 


72  THE    SOLITARY    OF   JUAN    FERNANDEZ, 

one  for  himself,  the  other  for  Marimonda,  when  she 
comes  from  her  grotto  to  visit  his  cabin  ;  for  he  has 
now  a  neighborhood.  Besides,  during  the  rainy  sea- 
son, they  will  be  forced  to  dine  under  cover. 

The  first  rains  have  commenced,  gentle,  fertilizing 
rains,  falling  at  intervals  and  lovingly  drank  in  by  the 
earth  ;  Selkirk  no  longer  thinks  of  his  table  and  seats  ; 
another  project  has  just  taken  the  place  of  these,  and 
seems  to  deserve  the  precedence. 

Marimonda  has  just  returned  from  a  tour  in  the 
woods,  bringing  fruits  of  all  sorts,  among  them  some 
which  Selkirk  has  never  before  seen.  He  tastes  them 
with  more  care  and  attention  than  usual  ;  then,  becom- 
ing thoughtful,  with  his  chin  resting  on  his  hand  says  to 
himself :  '  Why  should  I  not  make  these  fruits  grow  at 
my  door,  not  far  from  my  habitation  ?  Why  should  I 
not  attempt  to  improve  them  by  cultivation  ?  This  is  a 
very  simple  and  very  prudent  idea  which  should  have 
occurred  to  me  long  since ;  but  I  was  alone,  absolutely 
alone  ;  and  one  loses  courage  when  thinking  of  self 
only.  A  garden,  at  once  an  orchard  and  a  vegetable 
garden,  will  be  at  least  as  useful  to  me  as  my  fish-pond 
and  bed  of  water-cresses  ;  1  will  make  one  around  my 
cabin  ;  it  will  set  it  off  and  give  it  a  more  home-like 
appearance  !  Is  not  the  stream  placed  here  expressly 
to  traverse  it  and  water  it  ?  Afterwards,  if  God  assist 
me,  I  will  raise  little  kids  which  will  become  goats  and 
give  me  milk,  butter,  cheese  !  Why  have  I  not  thought 
of  this  before  ?  It  would  have  been  too  much  to  have 
undertaken  at  once.  I  shall  then  have  tame  goats  ;  I 
will  also  have  Guinea-pigs,  agoutis,  and  coatis.  My 
house  shall  be  enlarged,  I  will  have  a  farm,  a  dairy ! 


OR  THE  REAL  ROBINSON  CRUSOE.        73 

But  the  time  has  not  yet  come  ;  let  us  first  prepare  the 
garden.  Why  has  it  not  been  already  prepared  ?  I  am 
impatient  to  render  the  earth  productive,  fruitful  by 
my  cares,  to  walk  in  the  shade  of  the  trees  I  may 
plant ;  it  seems  to  me  that  I  shall  be  at  home  there, 
more  than  any  where  else  ! ' 

You  are  right,  Selkirk  ;  to  possess  the  entire  island, 
is  to  possess  nothing  ;  it  is  simply  to  have  permission 
to  hunt,  a  right  of  promenade  and  pasture,  which  the 
other  inhabitants  of  the  island,  quadrupeds  or  birds, 
can  claim  as  well  as  yourself.  What  is  property, 
without  the  power  of  improvement .''  Can  the  earth 
become  the  domain  of  a  single  person,  when  the  true 
limits  of  his  possessions  must  always  be  those  of  the 
field  which  affords  him  subsistence  ?  Envy  not  then 
the  happiness  of  the  rich  ;  they  are  but  the  transient 
holders  and  distributors  of  the  public  fortune  ;  we  pos- 
sess, in  reality,  only  that  which  we  can  ourselves 
enjoy ;  the  rest  escapes  us,  and  contributes  to  the 
well-being  of  others. 

Selkirk  comprehends  that  his  streams,  his  bank  of 
turf,  his  fish-pond,  his  bed  of  water-cresses,  his  grotto, 
his  cabin,  belong  to  him  far  otherwise  than  the  twelve 
or  fifteen  square  leagues  of  his  island  ;  to  his  private 
domain  he  now  intends  to  add  a  garden,  and  this 
garden,  this  orchard,  will  be  to  him  an  increase  of  his 
wealth,  since  it  will  aid  in  the  satisfaction  of  his  wants. 

The  humidity  with  which  the  earth  begins  to  be 
^  penetrated,  facilitates  his  labors  ;  he  sets  himself  to 
the  work. 

Behold  him  then,  now  armed  with  his  hatchet,  now 
with  a  wooden  shovel,  which  he  has  just  manufactured, 


74  THE    SOLITARY    OF    JUAN    FERNANDEZ, 

clearing  the  ground,  digging,  transplanting  young  fruit- 
trees,  or  sowing  the  seeds  which  he  is  soon  to  see 
spring  up  and  prosper.  Every  thing  grows  rapidly 
in  these  climates. 

When  the  garden-spot  is  marked  out,  dug,  sown, 
planted,  not  forgetting  the  kitchen  vegetables,  and 
especially  the  coca  and  petunia-nicotiana,  Selkirk, 
with  his  arms  folded  on  his  spade,  thanks  God  with  all 
his  heart,  —  God  who  has  given  him  strength  to  finish 
his  work. 

He  has  never  felt  so  happy  as  when,  with  his  hands 
behind  his  back,  he  walks  smoking,  among  his  beds, 
in  which  nothing  has  as  yet  appeared  ;  but  he  already 
sees,  in  a  dream,  his  trees  covered  with  blossoms  ; 
around  these  blossoms  are  buzzing  numerous  swarms 
of  bees ;  he  reflects  upon  the  means  of  compelling 
them  to  yield  the  honey  of  which  they  have  just  stolen 
from  him  the  essence.  It  is  a  settled  thing,  on  his  farm 
he  will  have  hives  !  After  his  bees,  still  in  his  dream, 
come  flocks  of  humming-birds  to  plunder  in  their  turn. 
The  happy  possessor  of  the  garden  will  exact  no  tribute 
from  them,  but  the  pleasure  of  seeing  them  suspend, 
by  a  silken  thread,  to  the  leaves  of  his  shrubs,  the  ele- 
gant little  boat  in  which  they  cradle  their  fragile  brood. 
Nothing  seems  to  him  more'l^eautiful  than  his  embryo 
garden  ;  here,  he  is  more  than  the  monarch  of  the 
island  ;  he  is  a  proprietor  ! 

Thanks  to  the  garden,  Selkirk  sees  with  resignation 
the  two  long  months  of  the  rainy  season  pass  away. 
When  the  heavy  torrents  render  the  paths  impassable, 
he  consoles  himself  by  thinking  that  they  aid  in  the 
germination  of  his  seeds,  in  the  rooting  of  his  young 


OR  THE  REAL  ROBINSON  CRUSOE.        75 

plants.  Sometimes,  between  two  deluges,  he  can 
scarcely  find  time  to  procure  himself  sufficient  game  ; 
what  matters  it !  he  lives  on  his  provisions :  he  is  for- 
cibly detained  within  ;  but  has  he  not  now  good  cheer, 
good  company,  and  occupation,  during  his  leisure 
hours  ? 

It  is  now  that  he  completes  his  furniture.  His  table 
and  his  seats  finished,  he  undertakes  to  provide  for 
another  want,  equally  indispensable. 

Worn  out  by  the  weather,  and  by  service,  his  gar- 
ments are  becoming  ragged.  He  must  shield  himself 
from  the  humidity  of  the  air ;  where  shall  he  procure 
materials  ?  Has  he  not  the  choice  between  seal-skins 
and  goat-skins  ?  He  gives  the  preference  to  the  latter, 
as  more  pliable,  and  behold  him  a  tailor,  cutting  with 
the  point  of  his  knife  ;  as  for  thread,  it  is  furnished  by 
the  fragment  of  the  sail ;  and  two  days  afterwards,  he 
finds  himself  flaming  in  a  new  suit. 

To  describe  the  delirious  stupefaction  of  Marimonda, 
when  she  perceives  her  master  under  this  strange  cos- 
tume, would  be  a  thing  impossible.  She  finds  him 
almost  like  herself,  clad  like  her,  in  a  hairy  suit. 
Never  tired  of  looking  at  him,  of  examining  him  curi- 
ously, she  leaps,  she  gambols  around  him,  now  rolling 
at  his  feet,  and  uttering  little  cries  of  joy,  now  sus- 
pended over  his  head,  at  the  top  of  the  central  pillar, 
and  turning  her  wild  and  restless  eyes.  When  she 
has  thus  inspected  him  from  head  to  foot,  she  runs 
and  crouches  in  a  corner,  with  her  face  towards  the 
wall,  as  if  to  reflect ;  then,  whirling  about,  returns 
towards  him,  picks  up  on  the  way  the  garment  he  has 


76  THE    SOLITARY    OF    JUAN    FERNANDEZ, 

just  laid  aside,  looking  alternately  at  this  and  at  the 
other,  very  anxious  to  know  which  of  the  two  really 
made  a  part  of  the  person. 

After  having  enjoyed  for  a  few  moments  the  surprise 
and  transports  of  his  companion,  Selkirk  takes  his 
Bible  and  his  pipe,  and,  placing  the  book  on  the  table, 
bends  over  it,  preparing  to  read  and  to  meditate.  But, 
whether  in  consequence  of  her  joyous  excitement,  or 
whether  she  is  emboldened  by  the  species  of  fraternity 
which  costume  establishes  between  them,  Marimonda, 
without  hesitation,  directs  herself  to  the  litde  shelf, 
chooses  from  it  a  pipe  in  her  turn,  places  it  gravely 
between  her  lips,  astonished  at  not  seeing  the  smoke 
issue  from  it  in  a  spiral  column  ;  and,  with  an  impor- 
tant air,  still  imitating  her  master,  comes  to  sit  opposite 
him,  with  her  brow  inclined,  and  her  elbow  resting  on 
the  table. 

Willingly  humoring  her  whim,  Selkirk  takes  the 
pipe  from  her  hands,  fills  it  with  his  most  spicy  tobacco, 
lights  it,  and  restores  it  to  her. 

Hardly  has  Marimonda  respired  the  first  breath, 
when  suddenly  letting  fall  the  pipe,  overturning  the 
table,  emitting  the  smoke  through  her  mouth  and  nos- 
trils, she  disappears,  uttering  plaintive  cries,  as  if  she 
had  just  tasted  burning  lava. 

At  sight  of  the  poor  monkey,  thus  thrown  into  con- 
fusion, Selkirk,  for  the  first  time  since  his  residence  in 
the  island,  laughs  so  loudly,  that  the  echo  follows  the 
fugitive  to  the  grotto,  where  she  had  taken  refuge,  and 
is  prolonged  from  the  grotto  to  the  Oasis^  from  the 
Oasis  to  the  summit  of  the  Discovery. 


OR  THE  REAL  ROBINSON  CRUSOE.      *  77 

The  exile  has  at  last  laughed,  laughed  aloud,  and, 
at  the  same  moment,  a  terrible  disaster  is  taking  place 
without  his  knowledge  ;  a  new  war  is  preparing  for 
him,  in  which  his  arms  will  be  useless. 


78  THE    SOLITARY    OF    JUAN    FERNANDEZ, 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

A  New  Invasion.  —  Selkirk  joyfully  meets  an  ancient  Ene- 
my. —  Combat  on  a  Red  Cedar.  —  A  Mother  and  her  Little 
Ones.  —  The  Flock.  —  Fete  in  the  Island  ;  Pacific  Combats, 
Diversions  and  Swings.  —  A  Sail.  —  The  Burning  Wood.  — 
Presentiments  of  Marimonda. 

The  next  morning  the  sun  has  scarcely  touched  the 
horizon,  Selkirk  is  still  asleep,  when  he  is  awakened  by 
a  sort  of  tickling  at  his  feet.  Thinking  it  some  caress 
or  trick  of  Marimonda,  risen  earlier  than  usual,  he  half 
opens  his  eyes,  sees  nothing,  and  places  himself  again 
in  a  posture  to  continue  his  nap.  The  same  tickling  is 
renewed,  but  with  more  perseverance,  and  very  soon 
something  sharp  and  keen  penetrates  to  the  quick  the 
hard  envelope  of  his  heel.  The  tickling  has  become 
a  bite. 

This  time  wide  awake,  he  raises  his  head.  His 
cabin  is  full  of  rats ! 

Near  him,  a  company  of  them  are  tranquilly  en- 
gaged in  breakfasting  on  his  coverings  and  the  rushes 
of  his  couch  ;  they  are  on  his  table,  his  seats,  along 
his  pillow  and  his  walls  ;  they  are  playing  before  his 
door,  running  hither  and  thither  through  the  crevices 
of  his  roof,  multiplying  themselves  on  his  rack  and 
shelf;  all  biting,  gnawing,  nibbling  —  some  his  seal- 
skin hat,  his  tobacco-pouch,  the  bark  ornaments  of  his 


OR  THE  REAL  ROBINSON  CRUSOE.        79 

furniture  ;  others  the  handles  of  his  tools,  his  pipes, 
his  Bible,  and  even  his  powder-horn. 

Selkirk  utters  a  cry,  springs  from  his  couch,  and 
immediately  crushes  two  under  his  heels.  The  rest 
take  flight. 

As  he  is  pursuing  these  new  invaders  with  the  shovel 
and  musket,  he  perceives  at  a  few  paces'  distance  Mari- 
monda,  sorrowful  and  drooping,  perched  on  the  strong 
branch  of  a  sapota-tree.  By  her  piteous  and  chilly 
appearance,  her  tangled  and  wet  hair,  he  doubts  not 
but  she  has  passed  the  whole  night  exposed  to  the 
inclemency  of  the  weather.  But  he  at  first  attributes 
this  whim  only  to  her  ill-humor  the  evening  before. 

On  perceiving  him,  Marimonda  descends  from  her 
tree,  sad,  but  still  gentle  and  caressing,  and  with  ges- 
tures of  terror,  points  to  the  grotto.     He  runs  thither. 

Here  another  spectacle  of  disorder  and  destruction 
awaits  him  ;  the  rats  are  collected  in  it  by  thousands  ; 
his  furs,  his  provisions  of  fruit  and  game,  his  bottles 
formerly  filled  with  oil,  every  thing  is  sacked,  torn  in 
pieces,  afloat ;  for  the  water  has  at  last  made  its  way 
through  the  crevices  of  the  mountain.  To  put  the 
climax  to  his  misfortune,  his  reserve  of  powder,  not- 
withstanding its  double  envelope  of  leather  and  horn, 
attacked  by  the  voracious  teeth  of  his  aggressors,  is 
swimming  in  the  midst  of  an  oily  slime. 

The  solitary  now  possesses,  for  the  purpose  of  hunt- 
ing, for  the  renewal  of  these  provisions  so  necessary  to 
his  life,  only  the  few  charges  contained  in  his  portable 
powder-horn,  and  in  the  barrels  of  his  guns.  The 
blow  which  has  just  struck  him  is  his  ruin !  and  still 
the  hardest  trial  appointed  for  him  is  yet  to  come. 


80  THE    SOLITARY    OF    JUAN    FERNANDEZ, 

In  penetrating  the  ground,  the  rains  of  winter  have 
driven  the  rats  from  their  holes;  hence  their  invasion 
of  the  cabin  and  the  grotto. 

Against  so  many  enemies,  what  can  Selkirk  do, 
reduced  to  his  single  strength  ? 

He  succeeds,  nevertheless,  in  killing  some ;  Mari- 
monda  herself,  armed  with  the  branch  of  a  tree,  serves 
as  an  ally,  and  aids  him  in  putting  them  to  flight ;  but 
their  combined  efforts  are  ineffectual.  An  hour  after, 
the  accursed  race  are  multiplying  round  him,  more 
numerous  and  more  ravenous  than  ever. 

He  comprehends  then  what  an  error  he  has  com- 
mitted in  the  complete  destruction  of  the  wild  cats 
which  peopled  the  island.  With  the  most  generous 
intentions,  how  often  is  man  mistaken  in  the  object  he 
pursues !  We  think  we  are  ridding  us  of  an  enemy, 
and  we  are  depriving  ourselves  of  a  protector.  God 
only  knows  what  he  does,  and  he  has  admitted  appa- 
rent evil,  as  a  principle,  into  the  admirable  composition 
of  his  universe  ;  he  suffers  the  wicked  to  live.  Selkirk 
had  been  more  severe  than  God,  and  he  repents  it.  If 
his  poor  cats  had  only  been  exiled,  he  would  hasten  to 
proclaim  a  general  amnesty.  Alas  !  there  is  no  am- 
nesty with  death.  But  has  he  indeed  destroyed  all .'' 
Perhaps  some  still  exist  in  those  distant  regions  which 
have  already  served  as  a  refuge  for  that  other  banished 
race,  the  seals. 

The  rains  have  ceased  ;  the  storms  of  winter,  always 
accompanied  by  overpowering  heat  and  dense  fogs,  no 
longer  sadden  the  island  by  anticipated  darkness,  or 
the  gloomy  mutterings  of  continual  thunder.     The  sun, 


OR  THE  REAL  ROBINSON  CRUSOE.         81 

though  garue,^  absorbs  the  remainder  of  the  inunda- 
tion. Followed  by  Marimonda,  Selkirk,  for  the  first 
time,  has  ventured  to  the  woods  and  thickets  between 
the  hills  beyond  the  shore  and  the  False  Coquimbo, 
when  a  sound,  sweeter  to  his  ear  than  would  have  been 
the  songs  of  a  siren,  makes  him  pause  suddenly  in 
ecstasy :  it  is  the  mewing  of  a  cat. 

This  cat,  strongly  built,  with  a  spotted  and  glossy 
coat,  white  nose,  and  brown  whiskers,  is  stationed  at  a 
little  distance,  on  a  red  cedar,  where  she  is  undoubted- 
ly watching  her  prey. 

She  is  an  old  settler  escaped  from  the  general  mas- 
sacre ;  the  last  of  the  vanquished,  perhaps  ! 

Without  hesitation,  Selkirk  clasps  the  trunk  of  the 
tree,  climbs  it,  reaches  the  first  branches  ;  Marimonda 
follows  him  and  quickly  goes  beyond.  At  the  aspect 
of  these  two  aggressors,  like  herself  clad  in  skin,  the 
cat  recoils,  ascending ;  the  monkey  follows,  pursues 
her  from  branch  to  branch,  quite  to  the  top  of  the 
cedar.  Struck  on  the  shoulder  with  a  blow  of  the 
claw,  she  also  recoils,  but  descending,  and  declaring 
herself  vanquished  in  the  first  skirmish,  immediately 
gives  over  the  combat,  or  rather  the  sport,  for  she  has 
seen  only  sport  in  the  affair. 

Selkirk  is  not  so  easily  discouraged  ;  this  cat  he 
must  have,  he  must  have  her  alive  ;  he  wishes  to  make 
her  the  guardian  of  his  cabin,  his  protector  against  the 
rats.  Three  times  he  succeeds  in  seizing  her ;  three 
times  the  furious  animal,  struggling,  tears  his  arms  or 

^  In  Peru  and  Chili,  they  call  garua  that  mist  which  some- 
times, and  especially  after  the  rainy  season,  floats  around  the 

disk  of  the  sun. 

6 


82  THE    SOLITARY    OF    JUAN    FERNANDEZ,  ! 

face.     It   is  a  terrible,  bloody   conflict,  mingled  with 
exclamations,  growlings,  and  frightful  mewings.     At 
last  Selkirk,  forgetting  perhaps  in  the  ardor  of  combat 
the  object  of  victory,  seizes  her  vigorously  by  the  skin  I 
of  the  neck,  aygke   risk  of  strangling  her ;  with  the  i 
other  hand  he  g^ps  her  around  the  body.     The  difR-  : 
culty  is   now  to   cany  her.     Fortunately  he   has  his  ' 
game-bag.      With  pne    hand   he    holds    her   pressed 
against  the  fork  of  the  tree  ;  with  the  other  arm  he 
reaches  his  game-bag,  opens  it ;  the  conquered  animal, 
half   dead,  has  not   made,  during  this   manoeuvre,  a 
single  movement  of  resistance.     But  when  the  hunter    I 
is  about  to  close  it,  suddenly  rousing  herself  with  a 
leap,  distending  by  a  last  effort  all  her  muscles  at  once, 
she  escapes  from  his  grasp,  and  precipitates  herself 
from  the  top  of  the  cedar,  to  the  great  terror  of  Mari-   | 
monda,  then  peaceably  crouched  under  the  tree,  whom 
the  cat  brushes  against  in  falling,  and  to  the  great  disap- 
pointment of  Selkirk,  who  thinks  he  has  the  captive  in 
his  pouch. 

Sliding  along  the  trunk,  Selkirk  descends  quickly  to 
the  ground  ;  but  the  enemy  has  already  disappeared, 
and  left  no  trace.  In  vain  his  eyes  are  turned  on  all 
sides  ;  he  sees  nothing,  neither  his  adversary  nor  Mari- 
monda,  who  has  undoubtedly  fled  under  the  impression 
of  this  last  terror. 

^  As  he  is  in  despair,  a  whistling  familiar  to  his  ear  is 
heard,  and  at  two  hundred  paces  distant  he  perceives, 
on  an  eminence  of  the  False  Coquimbo,  his  monkey, 
bent  double,  in  an  attitude  of  contemplation,  appearing  ; 
very  attentive  to  what  is  passing  beneath  her,  and 
changing  her  posture  only  to  send  a  repeated  summons  i 
to  her  master. 


OR  THE  REAL  ROBINSON  CRUSOE.        83 

At  all  hazards  he  directs  himself  to  this  quarter. 

What  a  spectacle  awaits  him !  In  a  cavity  at  the 
foot  of  the  eminence  where  Marimonda  is,  he  finds, 
crouching,  still  out  of  breath  with  her  struggle  and  her 
race,  his  fugitive.  She  is  a  moth^^  and  six  kittens, 
already  active,  are  rolling  in  the  sun  around  her. 

Selkirk,  seizing  his  knife,  kills  the  mother,  and 
carries  off  the  little  ones. 

A  short  time  after,  the  rats  have  deserted  the  shore. 
But  their  departure,  though  it  prevents  the  evil  they 
might  yet  have  done,  does  not  remedy  that  already 
accomplished. 

The  provisions  of  the  solitary  are  almost  entirely 
destroyed,  and  the  little  powder  which  remains  is 
scarcely  sufficient  for  a  reserve  which  he  no  longer 
knows  where  to  renew. 

The  moment  at  last  comes  when  he  possesses  no 
other  ammunition  than  the  only  charge  in  his  gun. 
This  last  charge,  his  last  resource,  oh !  how  preciously 
he  preserves  it  to-day.  While  it  is  there,  he  can  still 
believe  himself  armed,  still  powerful ;  he  has  not 
entirely  exhausted  his  resources  ;  it  is  his  last  hope. 
Who  knows  ?  —  perhaps  he  may  yet  need  it  to  protect 
his  life  in  circumstances  which  he  cannot  foresee. 

But  since  his  gun  must  remain  suspended,  inactive, 
to  the  walls  of  his  cabin,  it  is  time  to  think  of  supply- 
ing the  place  of  the  services  it  has  rendered ;  it  is  time 
to  realize  his  dream,  and,  according  to  the  usual  course 
of  civilization,  to  substitute  the  life  of  a  farmer  and 
shepherd  for  that  of  a  hunter. 

Already  is  his  colony  augmented  by  six  new  guests, 
domesticated  in  his  house ;  already,  on  every  side,  his 


84  THE    SOLITARY    OF    JUAN    FERNANDEZ, 

seeds  are  peeping  out  of  the  ground  under  the  most 
favorable  auspices  ;  his  young  trees,  firmly  rooted,  are 
growing  rapidly  beneath  the  double  influence  of  heat 
and  moisture  ;  at  the  axil  of  some  of  their  leaves,  he 
sees  a  bud,  an  ^feest  of  the  harvest.  He  must  now 
occupy  himself  with  the  means  of  surprising,  seizing 
and  retaining  the  ancestors  of  his  future  flock. 

Here,  patience,  address  or  stratagem  can  alone 
avail. 

Notwithstanding  his  natural  agility,  he  does  not 
dream  of  reaching  them  by  pursuit.  Since  his  last 
hunts,  goats  and  kids  keep  themselves  usually  in  the 
steep  and  mountainous  parts  of  the  island.  To  leap 
from  rock  to  rock,  to  attempt  to  vie  with  them  in 
celerity  and  lightness  appears  to  him,  with  reason,  a 
foolish  and  impracticable  enterprise.  Later,  perhaps, 
...  Who  knows  ? 

He  manufactures  snares,  traps ;  but  suspicion  is 
now  the  order  of  the  day  around  him  ;  each  holds 
himself  on  the  qui  vive.  After  long  waiting  without 
any  result,  he  finds  in  his  snares  a  coati,  some  little 
Guinea  pigs  ;  here  is  one  resource,  undoubtedly,  but 
he  aims  at  higher  game,  and  the  kids  will  not  allow 
themselves  to  be  taken  by  his  baits. 

He  remembers  then,  that  in  certain  parts  of  Amer- 
ica, the  hunters,  in  order  to  seize  their  prey  living, 
iTave  recourse  to  the  lasso,  a  long  cord  terminated  by 
a  slip-noose,  which  they  know  how  to  throw  at  great 
distances,  and  almost  always  with  certainty. 

With  a  thread  which  he  obtains  from  the  fibres  of 
the  aloe,  with  narrow  strips  of  skin,  closely  woven,  he 
composes  a  lasso  more  than  fifty  feet  long ;  he  tries 


OR  THE  REAL  ROBINSON  CRUSOE.        85 

it ;  he  exercises  it  now  against  a  tuft  of  leaves  de- 
tached from  a  bush,  now  agahist  some  projecting 
rock  ;  afterwards  he  tries  it  upon  Marimonda,  who 
often  enough,  by  her  agility  and  swiftness,  puts  her 
master  at  fault. 

In  the  interval  of  these  preparatory  exercises,  Sel- 
kirk occupies  himself  with  the  construction  of  a  lat- 
ticed inclosure,  destined  to  contain  the  flock  which  he 
hopes  to  possess ;  he  makes  it  large  and  spacious,  that 
his  young  cattle  may  bound  and-  sport  at  their  ease  ; 
high,  that  they  may  respect  the  limits  he  assigns  them. 
In  one  corner,  supported  by  solid  posts,  he  builds  a 
shed,  simply  covered  with  branches ;  that  his  flock 
may  there  be  sheltered  from  the  heat  of  the  day. 
The  inclosure  and  the  shed,  together  with  his  garden, 
form  a  new  addition  to  his  great  settlement. 

When  his  kids  shall  have  become  goats,  when  the 
epoch  of  domesticity  shall  have  arrived  for  them,  when 
they  shall  have  contracted  habits  of  tameness,  when 
they  have  learned  to  recognize  his  voice,  then,  and 
then  only,  will  he  permit  them  to  wander  and  browse 
on  the  neighboring  hills,  under  the  direction  of  a 
vigilant  guardian.  This  guardian,  where  shall  he 
find  ?  Why  may  it  not  be  Marimonda  ?  Marimonda, 
to  whose  intelligence  he  knows  not  where  to  affix 
bounds  ! 

Dreams,  dreams,  perhaps !  and  yet  but  for  dreams, 
but  for  those  gentle  phantoms  which  he  creates,  and 
by  whi^'h  he  surrounds  himself,  what  would  sustain 
the  courage  of  the  solitary  ? 

When  Selkirk  thinks  he  has  acquired  skill  in  the 
use   of  the   lasso,  he  buries  himself  among  the  high 


THE    SOLITARY    OF    JUAN    FERNANDEZ, 

mountains  situated  towards  the  central  part  of  his 
island.  Several  days  pass  amid  fruitless  attempts, 
and  when  the  delicately-carved  foliage  of  the  mimosa 
announces,  by  its  folding,  that  night  is  approaching, 
he  regains  his  cabin,  gloomy,  care-worn,  and  despair- 
ing of  the  future. 

Meanwhile,  by  his  very  failures,  he  has  acquired 
experience.  One  evening,  he  returns  to  his  dwelling, 
bringing  with  him  two  young  kids,  with  scarcely  per- 
ceptible horns,  and  reddish  skin,  varied  with  large 
brown  spots.  Marimonda  welcomes  her  new  guests, 
and  this  evening  all  in  the  habitation  breathes  joy  and 
tranquillity. 

The  week  has  not  rolled  away,  when  the  number  of 
Selkirk's  goats  exceeds  that  of  his  cats  ;  and  he  takes 
pleasure  in  seeing  them  leap  and  play  together  in  his 
inclosure  ;  his  mind  has  recovered  its  serenity. 

'  Yes,'  said  he,  with  pride,  '  man  can  suffice  for 
himself,  can  depend  on  himself  only  for  subsistence 
and  welfare  !  Am  I  not  a  striking  proof  ?  Did  not 
all  seem  lost  for  me,  when  an  unforeseen  catastrophe 
destroyed  the  remnant  of  the  provision  of  powder 
which  I  owed  to  the  pity  of  that  miserable  captain  } 
Ah  !  undoubtedly  according  to  his  hateful  calculations, 
he  had  limited  the  term  of  my  life  to  the  last  charge 
which  my  gun  should  contain  ;  this  last  charge  is  still 
there  !  Of  what  use  will  it  be  to  me  ?  Why  do  I  need 
it  ?  Are  not  my  resources  for  subsistence  more  cer- 
tain and  numerous  to-day  than  before  ?  What  then 
is  wanting  ?  The  society  of  a  Stradling  and  his  fel- 
lows.? God  keep  me  from  them!  The  best  member 
of  the  crew  of  the   brig  Swordfish  came  away  when  I 


OR  THE  REAL  ROBINSON  CRUSOE.        87 

did.  I  have  received  from  Marimonda  more  proofs  of 
devotioQ  than  from  all  the  companions  I  have  had  on 
land  and  on  sea.  What  have  I  to  regret  ?  1  am  well 
off  here  ;  may  God  keep  me  in  repose  and  health ! ' 

After  this  sally,  he  thought  of  his  hives,  which  were 
still  wanting,  and  of  the  methods  to  be  employed  to 
seize  a  swarm  of  bees. 

A  month  after,  Selkirk,  who  religiously  kept  his 
reckoning  on  the  margin  of  his  Bible,  resolved  to  cele- 
brate the  New  Year.  It  was  now  the  first  of  January, 
1706. 

On  this  day  he  dined,  not  in  his  cabin,  nor  under  his 
tree,  but  in  the  middle  of  the  inclosure,  surrounded  by 
his  family ;  fruits  and  good  cheer  were  more  abundant 
than  usual ;  Marimonda,  as  was  her  custom,  dined  at 
the  same  table  with  himself:  the  cats  shared  in  the 
feast ;  the  goats  roved  around,  stretching  up  to  gaze 
with  their  blue  eyes  on  the  baskets  of  fruits,  and  re- 
turning to  browse  on  the  grass  beneath  the  feet  of  the 
guests.  Selkirk,  as  the  master  of  the  house,  and  chief 
of  the  family,  generously  distributed  the  provisions  to 
his  young  and  frolicksome  republic,  and  Marimonda 
assisted  him  as  well  as  she  could,  in  doing  the  honors. 

After  the  repasts,  there  were  races  and  combats ; 
the  remains  of  the  baskets  were  thrown  to  the  most 
skilful  and  the  most  adroit ;  then  came  diversions  and 
swings. 

Lying  in  his  hammock,  where  he  smoked  his  most 
excellent  tobacco  in  his  best  pipe,  Selkirk  smilingly 
contemplated  the  capricious  bounds,  the  riotous  sports 
of  his  cats  and  kids,  their  graceful  postures,  their  fra- 
ternal combats,  in  which  sheathed  claws  and  the  inof- 


88  TPIE    SOLITARY    OF    JUAN    FERNANDEZ, 

fensive  horn  were  the  only  weapons  used  on  either 
side. 

To  give  more  variety  to  the  fete,  Marimonda  de- 
velopes  all  the  resources  of  her  daring  suppleness  ;  she 
leaps  from  right  to  left,  clearing  large  spaces  with 
inconceivable  dexterity.  Attaining  the  summit  of  a 
tree,  she  whistles  to  attract  her  master's  attention, 
then,  with  her  two  fore-paws  clasped  in  her  hind  ones, 
she  rolls  herself  up  like  a  ball  and  drops  on  the 
ground ;  the  foliage  crackles  beneath  her  fall,  which 
seems  as  if  it  must  be  mortal ;  for  her,  this  is  only 
sport.  Without  altering  the  position  of  her  limbs,  she 
suddenly  stops  in  her  rapid  descent,  by  means  of  her 
prehensile  tail,  that  fifth  hand,  so  powerful,  with  which 
nature  has  endowed  the  monkeys  of  America.  Then, 
suspended  by  this  organ  alone,  she  accelerates  her 
motions  to  and  fro  with  incredible  rapidity,  quickly" 
unwinds  her  tail  from  the  branch  by  which  she  is 
suspended,  and  with  a  dart,  traversing  the  air  as  if 
winged,  alights  at  a  hundred  paces  distance  on  a  vine, 
which  she  instantly  uses  as  a  swincr. 

Selkirk  is  astonished  ;  he  applauds  the  tricks  of 
Marimonda,  the  sports  and  combats  of  his  other  sub- 
jects. Meanwhile,  his  eyes  having  turned  towards  the 
sea,  his  brow  is  suddenly  overclouded.  At  the  expira- 
tion of  a  few  moments  of  an  uneasy  and  agitated 
observation,  he  utters  an  exclamation,  springs  from  his 
hammock,  runs  to  his  cabin,  then  to  the  shore,  where 
he  prostrates  himself  with  his  hands  clasped  and 
raised  towards  heaven. 

He  has  just  perceived  a  sail. 

Provided  with  his  glass,  he  seeks  the  sail  upon  the 


OR  THE  REAL  ROBINSON  CRUSOE.        89 

waves,  he  finds  it.  '  It  is  without  doubt  a  barque,' 
said  he  to  himself;  'a  barque  from  the  neighboring 
island,  or  some  point  of  the  continent! '  And  looking 
again  through  his  copper  tube,  he  clearly  distinguishes 
three  masts  well  rigged,  decorated  with  white  sails, 
which  are  swelling  in  the  east  wind,  and  gilded  by  the 
oblique  rays  of  the  declining  sun. 

'  It  is  a  brig  !  The  Swordfish,  perhaps  !  Yes,  Strad- 
ling  has  prolonged  his  voyage  in  these  regions.  The 
time  which  he  had  fixed  for  my  exile  has  rolled  away ! 
He  is  coming  to  seek  me.     May  he  be  blessed ! ' 

The  movement  which  the  brig  made  to  double  the 
island,  had  increased  more  and  more  the  hopes  of 
Selkirk,  when  the  Spanish  flag,  hoisted  at  the  stern, 
suddenly  unfolded  itself  to  his  eyes. 

'  The  enemy  ! '  exclaimed  he  ;  '  woe  is  me  !  If  they 
land  on  this  coast,  whither  shall  I  fly,  where  conceal 
myself?  In  the  mountains!  Yes,  I  can  there  succeed 
in  escaping  them  !  But,  the  wretches !  they  will  de- 
stroy my  cabin,  my  inclosure,  my  garden !  the  fruit 
of  so  much  anxiety  and  labor  ! ' 

And,  with  palpitating  heart,  he  again  watches  the 
manoeuvres  of  the  brig.  The  latter,  having  tacked 
several  times,  as  if  to  get  before  the  wind,  hastily 
changed  her  course  and  stood  out  to  sea. 

Selkirk  remains  stupefied,  overwhelmed.  '  These 
are  Spaniards,'  murmured  he,  after  a  moment's  hesita- 
tion ;  '  what  matters  it !  Am  1  now  their  enemy  ?  I 
am  only  a  colonist,  an  exile,  a  deserter  from  the 
English  navy.  They  owe  me  protection,  assistance, 
as  a  Christian.  If  they  required  it,  I  would  sei-ve 
on  board  their  vessel !     But   they  have  gone  ;    what 


90  THE    SOLITARY    OF    JUAN    FERNANDEZ, 

method  shall  I  employ  to  recall  them,  to  signalize  my 
presence  ? ' 

There  was  but  one  ;  it  was  to  kindle  a  large  fire  on 
the  shore  or  on  the  hill.  He  needs  hewn  wood,  and 
his  supplies  are  exhausted  ;  what  is  to  be  done  ? 

For  an  instant,  in  his  disturbed  mind,  the  idea  arises 
to  tear  the  lattice-work  from  his  inclosure,  the  pillars 
and  the  roof  from  his  shed,  to  pile  them  around  his 
cabin,  and  set  fire  to  the  whole. 

This  idea  he  quickly  repulses,  but  it  suffices  to  show 
what  passed  in  the  inner  folds  of  the  heart  of  this  man, 
who  had  just  now  forced  himself  to  believe  that  happi- 
ness was  yet  possible  for  him. 

On  farther  reflection,  he  remembers  that  behind  his 
grotto,  on  one  of  the  first  terraces  of  the  mountain, 
there  is  a  dense  thicket,  where  the  trees,  embarrassed 
with  vines  and  dry  briers,  closely  interwoven,  calcined 
by  the  burning  reflections  of  the  sun  on  the  rock  which 
surrounds  them,  present  a  collection  of  dead  branches 
and  mouldy  trunks,  scarcely  masked  by  the  semblance 
of  vegetation. 

Thither  he  transports  all  the  brands  preserved  under 
the  ashes  of  his  hearth  ;  he  makes  a  pile  of  them, 
throws  upon  it  armfuls  of  chips,  bark  and  leaves.  The 
flame  soon  runs  along  the  bushes  which  encircle  the 
thicket ;  and,  when  the  sun  goes  down,  an  immense 
coj^umn  of  fire  illuminates  all  this  part  of  the  island, 
and  throws  its  lio;ht  far  over  the  ocean. 

Standing  on  the  shore,  Selkirk  passes  the  night  with 
his  eyes  fixed  on  the  sea,  his  ear  listening  attentively 
to  catch  the  distant  sound  of  a  vessel  ;  but  nothing 
presents   itself  to  his  glance  upon  the  luminous  and 


OR  THE  REAL  ROBINSON  CRUSOE.        91 

sparkling  waves,  and  amid  their  dashing  he  hears  no 
other  sound  but  that  of  the  trees  and  vines  crackling  in 
the  flames. 

At  morning  all  has  disappeared.  The  fire  has  ex- 
hausted itself  without  going  beyond  its  bounds,  and  the 
sea,  calm  and  tranquil,  shows  nothing  upon  its  surface 
but  a  few  flocks  of  gulls. 

A  week  passes  away,  during  which  Selkirk  remains 
thoughtful  and  taciturn ;  he  rarely  leaves  the  shore ; 
he  still  beholds  the  sports  of  his  cats  and  his  kids,  but 
no  longer  smiles  at  them  ;  Marimonda,  by  way  of 
amusing  him,  renews  in  his  presence  her  surprising 
feats,  but  the  attention  of  the  master  is  elsewhere. 

Nevertheless,  he  cannot  allow  himself  time  to  dream 
long  with  impunity  ;  his  reserve  of  smoked  beef  is 
nearly  exhausted  ;  to  save  it,  he  has  again  resorted  to 
the  shell-fish,  which  his  stomach  loathes ;  to  the  sea- 
crabs,  of  which  he  is  tired ;  he  needs  other  nourish- 
ment to  restore  his  strength.  He  shakes  off  his 
lethargy,  takes  his  lasso,  his  game-bag.  His  plan  now 
is,  not  to  hunt  the  kids,  but  the  goats  themselves. 

As  he  is  about  to  set  out,  Marimonda  approaches, 
preparing  to  accompany  him.  In  his  present  frame  of 
mind,  Selkirk  wishes  to  be  alone,  and  makes  her  com- 
prehend, by  signs,  that  she  must  remain  at  home  and 
watch  the  flock  ;  but  this  time,  contrary  to  her  custom, 
she  does  not  seem  disposed  to  obey.  Notwithstanding 
his  orders,  she  follows  him,  stops  when  he  turns, 
recommences  to  follow  him,  and,  by  her  supplicating 
looks  and  expressive  gestures,  seeks  to  obtain  the  per- 
mission which  he  persists  in  refusing.  At  last  Selkirk 
speaks  severely,  and  she  submits,  still  protesting 
against  it  by  her  air  of  sadness  and  depression. 


92  THE    SOLITARY    OF   JUAN    FERNANDEZ, 

Was  this,  on  her  part,  caprice  or  foresight  ?  No 
one  has  the  secret  of  these  inexplicable  instincts, 
which  sometimes  reveal  to  animals  the  presence  of  an 
invisible  enemy,  or  the  approach  of  a  disaster. 

At  evening,  Selkirk  had  not  returned  !  Marimonda 
passed  the  night  in  awaiting  him,  uttering  plaintive 
cries. 

On  the  morrow  the  morning  rolled  away,  then  the 
day,  then  the  night,  and  the  cabin  remained  deserted, 
and  Marimonda  in  vain  scaled  the  trees  and  hills  in  the 
neighborhood  to  recover  traces  of  her  master. 

What  had  become  of  him  ? 


t^ 


OR  THE  REAL  ROBINSON  CRUSOE.         93 


CHAPTER    IX. 

The  Precipice. —  A  Dungeon  in  a  Desert  Island.  —  Resigna- 
tion. —  The  passing  Bird.  —  The  browsing  Goat.  —  The 
bending  Tree.  —  Attempts  at  Deliverance. —  Success. — 
Death  of  Marimonda. 

In  that  sterile  and  mountainous  quarter  of  the  island 
to  which  he  has  given  the  name  of  Stradling,  —  that 
name,  importing  to  him  misfortune,  —  Selkirk,  ventur- 
ing in  pursuit  of  a  goat,  has  fallen  from  a  precipice. 

Fortunately  the  cavity  is  not  deep.  After  a  tran- 
sient swoon,  recovering  his  footing,  experiencing  only 
a  general  numbness,  and  some  pain  caused  by  the  con- 
tusions resulting  from  his  fall,  he  bethinks  himself  of 
the  means  of  escape. 

But  a  circle  of  sharp  rocks,  contracting  from  the 
base  to  the  summit,  forms  a  tunnel  over  his  head  ;  no 
crevice,  no  precipitous  ledge,  interrupts  their  fatal 
uniformity.  Only  around  him  some  platforms  of  sandy 
earth  appear ;  he  digs  them  with  his  knife,  to  form 
steps.  Some  fragments  of  roots  project  here  and  there 
through  the  interstices  of  the  stones ;  he  hopes  to  find 
a  point  of  support  by  which  to  scale  these  abrupt  walls. 
The  little  solidity  of  the  roots,  which  give  way  in  his 
grasp ;  his  sufferings,  which  become  more  intense  at 
every  effort ;  these  thousand  rocky  heads  bending  at 
once  over  him  ;  all  tell  him  plainly  that  it  will  be  im- 


94  THE    SOLITARY    OF   JUAN    FERNANDEZ, 

possible  for  him  to  emerge  from  this  hole  —  that  it  is 
destined  to  be  his  tomb. 

Poor  young  sailor,  already  condemned  to  isolation, 
separated  from  the  rest  of  mankind,  could  he  have  fore- 
seen that  one  day  his  captivity  was  to  be  still  closer !  that 
his  steps  would  be  chained,  that  the  sight  even  of  his 
island  would  be  interdicted  !  and  that  in  this  desert, 
where  he  had  neither  persecutor  nor  jailer  to  fear,  he 
would  find  a  prison,  a  dungeon ! 

After  three  days  of  anguish  and  tortures,  after  new 
and  ineffectual  attempts,  —  exhausted  by  fatigue,  by 
thirst,  by  hunger,  —  consumed  by  fever,  supervened  in 
consequence  of  all  his  sufferings  of  body  and  soul,  he 
resigns  himself  to  his  fate  ;  with  his  foot,  he  prepares 
his  last  couch,  composed  of  sand  and  dried  leaves 
shaken  from  above  by  the  neighboring  trees  ;  he  lies 
down,  folds  his  arms,  closes  his  eyes,  and  prepares  to 
die,  thinking  of  his  eternal  salvation. 

Although  he  tries  not  to  allow  himself  to  be  dis- 
tracted by  other  thoughts,  from  time  to  time  sounds 
from  the  outer  world  disturb  his  pious  meditations. 
First  it  is  the  joyous  song  of  a  bird.  To  these  vibrat- 
ing notes  another  song  replies  from  afar,  on  a  more 
simple  and  almost  plaintive  key.  It  is  doubtless  the 
female,  who,  with  a  sort  of  modest  and  repressed  ten- 
derness, thus  announces  her  retreat  to  him  who  calls  ; 
theji  a  rapid  rustling  is  heard  above  the  head  of  the 
prisoner.  It  is  the  songster,  hastening  to  rejoin  his 
companion. 

Selkirk  has  never  known  love.  Once  perhaps, —  in 
a  fit  of  youth  and  delirium  ;  and  it  was  this  false  love 
which   tore  him   from  his  studies,  from  his  country ! 


'y- 


OR  THE  REAL  ROBINSON  CRUSOE.        95 

Ah !  why  did  he  not  remain  at  Largo,  with  his  father  ? 
To-day  he  also  would  have  had  a  companion !  In  that 
smiling  country  where  coolness  dwells,  where  lahor  is 
so  easy,  life  so  sweet  and  calm,  the  paternal  roof 
would  have  sheltered  his  happiness !  Oh  !  the  joys  of 
his  infancy  !  his  green  and  sunny  Scotland. 

The  regrets  which  arise  in  his  heart  he  quickly  ban- 
ishes ;  his  dear  remembrances  he  sacrifices  to  God  ; 
he  weaves  them  into  a  fervent  prayer. 

Veiy  soon  an  approaching  bleating  rouses  him  again 
from  his  abstractions.  A  goat,  with  restless  eye,  has 
just  stretched  her  head  over  the  edge  of  the  precipice, 
and  for  an  instant  fixes  on  him  her  astonished  glance. 
Then,  as  if  re-assured,  defying  his  powerlessness,  with 
a  disdainful  lip  she  quietly  crops  some  tufts  of  grass 
growing  on  the  verge  of  the  tunnel. 

On  seeing  her,  Selkirk  instinctively  lays  his  hand  on 
the  lasso  which  is  beside  him. 

'  If  I  succeed  in  reaching  her,  in  catching  her,' 
said  he,  '  her  blood  will  quench  the  thirst  which 
devours  me,  her  flesh  will  appease  my  hunger.  But 
of  what  use  would  it  be  ?  Whence  can  I  expect  aid 
and  succor  for  my  deliverance  ?  This  would  then 
only  prolong  my  sufferings.' 

And,  throwing  aside  the  end  of  the  lasso  which  he 
has  just  seized,  he  again  folds  his  arms  on  his  breast, 
and  closes  his  eyes  once  more. 

I  know  not  what  stoical  philosopher  —  Atticus,  I 
believe,  a  prey  to  a  malady  which  he  thought  incur- 
able, —  had  resolved  to  die  of  inanition.  At  the  expira- 
tion of  a  certain  number  of  days,  abstinence  had  cured 
him,  and  when  his  friends,  in  the  number  of  whom  he 


96  THE    SOLITARY    OF    JUAN    FERNANDEZ, 

reckoned  Cicero,  exhorted  him  to  take  nourishment, 
persisting  in  his  first  resolution,  'Of  what  use  is  it!' 
said  he  also,  '  Must  I  not  die  sooner  or  later  ?  Why- 
should  I  then  retrace  my  steps,  when  I  have  already 
travelled  more  than  half  the  road  ? ' 

Selkirk  had  more  reason  than  Atticus  to  decide 
thus ;  besides,  his  friends,  where  are  they,  to  exhort 
him  to  live  ?     Friends  !  —  has  he  ever  had  any  ? 

Night  comes,  and  with  the  night  a  terrific  hurricane 
arises.  By  the  glare  of  the  lightning  he  sees  a  tree, 
situated  not  far  from  the  tunnel,  bend  towards  him, 
almost  broken  by  the  violence  of  the  wind. 

'  Perhaps  Providence  will  send  me  a  method  of  sav- 
ing myself! '  murmured  Selkirk  ;  '  should  the  tree  fall 
on  this  side,  if  its  branches  do  not  crush  me,  they  will 
serve  as  steps  to  aid  me  to  leave  this  pit !  I  am 
saved ! ' 

But  the  tree  resists  the  storm,  which  passes  away, 
carrying  with  it  the  last  hope  of  the  captive. 

Towards  the  morning  of  the  fourth  day  his  fever  has 
ceased ;  the  tortures  of  hunger  and  thirst  are  no  longer 
felt ;  the  complete  annihilation  of  his  strength  is  to  him 
a  kind  of  relief;  sleep  seizes  him,  and  with  sleep  he 
thinks  death  must  come. 

Soon,  in  his  dream,  in  a  hallucination  springing 
undoubtedly  from  the  weakness  of  his  brain,  plaints, 
confused  and  distant  groans,  reach  him  from  different 
points  of  the  island.  These  sorrowful  cries,  almost 
uninterrupted,  afterwards  approach,  and  are  repeated 
with  increasing  strength.  He  awakes,  he  listens  ;  the 
bushes  around  him  crackle  and  rustle  ;  even  the  earth 
emits  a  dull  sound,  as  beneath  the  bounding  of  a  goat ; 


OR  THE  REAL  ROBINSON  CRUSOE.        97 

the  cries  are  renewed  and  become  more  and  more  dis- 
tinct, like  the  sobs  of  a  child.  Selkirk  puts  his  hand 
to  his  forehead.  These  plaints,  these  sobs,  he  thinks 
he  recognizes,  and,  suddenly  raising  himself  with  a 
convulsive  effort,  he  exclaims : 

'  Marimonda ! ' 

And  Marimonda  runs  at  her  master's  voice,  changes, 
on  seeing  him,  her  cries  of  distress  for  cries  of  joy, 
leaps  and  gambols  on  the  edge  of  the  cavity,  and, 
quickly  finding  a  way  to  join  him,  suspends  herself  by 
her  tail  to  one  of  the  branches  on  the  verge,  and 
springs  to  his  side. 

Then  contortions,  caresses,  winks  of  the  eyes, 
motions  of  the  head,  whining,  whistling,  succeed  each 
other ;  she  rolls  before  him,  embraces  him  closely, 
seeking  by  every  method  to  supply  the  place  of  that 
speech  which  alone  is  wanting,  and  which  she  almost 
seems  to  have.  Good  Marimonda !  her  humid  and 
shivering  skin,  her  bruised  and  bleeding  feet,  her  in- 
flamed eyes,  plainly  tell  Selkirk  how  long  she  has  been 
in  search  of  him,  how  she  has  watched,  run,  to  find 
him,  and,  not  finding  him,  what  she  has  suffered  at 
his  absence. 

Her  first  transports  over,  by  his  pale  complexion,  by 
his  dim  eye,  she  quickly  divines  that  it  is  want  of  food 
which  has  reduced  him  to  this  condition.  Swift  as  a 
bird  she  climbs  the  sides  of  the  tunnel ;  she  repeatedly 
goes  and  returns,  bringins;  each  time  fruits  and  canes 
full  of  savoiy  and  refreshing  liquid.  It  is  precisely 
the  usual  hour  for  their  first  repast,  and  once  more 
they  can  partake  of  it  together. 

Revived  by  this  repast,  by  the  sight  of  his  com- 
7 


9S  THE    SOLITARY    OF    JUAN    FERNANDEZ, 

panion  in  exile,  Selkirk  recovers  his  ideas  of  life  and 
liberty.  This  abyss,  from  which  she  ascends  with  so 
much  facility,  who  knows  but  with  her  aid  he  may  be 
able  in  his  turn  to  leave  it?  He  remembers  his  lasso ; 
he  puts  one  end  of  it  into  Marimonda's  hand.  It  is  now 
necessary  that  she  should  fix  it  to  some  projection  of 
the  rock,  some  strong  shrub,  which  may  serve  as  a 
point  of  support. 

It  was  perhaps  presuming  too  much  on  the  intelli- 
gence which  nature  has  bestowed  on  the  race  of 
monkeys.  At  her  master's  orders,  Marimonda  would 
seize  the  end  of  the  cord,  then  immediately  abandon 
it,  as  she  needed  entire  freedom  of  motion  to  enable 
her  to  scale  the  walls  of  the  tunnel. 

After  several  ineffectual  attempts,  Selkirk,  as  a  last 
resort,  decided  to  encircle  Marimonda  with  the  noose  of 
the  lasso,  and,  by  a  gesture,  to  send  her  towards  those 
heights  where  he  was  so  impatient  to  join  her. 

She  departs,  dragging  after  her  the  chain,  of  which 
he  holds  the  other  extremity :  this  chain,  the  only 
bridge  thrown  for  him  between  the  abyss  and  the  port 
of  safety,  between  life  and  death ! 

With  what  anxiety  he  observes,  studies  its  oscilla- 
tions !  Several  times  he  draws  it  towards  him,  and 
each  time,  as  if  in  reply  to  his  summons,  Marimonda 
suddenly  re-appears  at  the  brow  of  the  precipice,  pre- 
paring to  re-descend ;  but  he  repulses  her  with  his 
voice  and  gestures,  and  when  these  methods  are  insuf- 
ficient, —  when  Marimonda,  exhausted  with  lassitude, 
seated  on  the  verge  of  the  tunnel,  persists  in  remaining 
motionless,  he  has  recourse  to  projectiles.  To  compel 
her  to  second  him  in  his  work,  the  possible  realization 


OR    THE    REAL    ROBINSON    CRUSOE.  99 

of  which  he  himself  scarcely  comprehends,  he  throws 
at  her  some  fragments  of  stone  detached  from  his 
rocky  wall,  and  even  the  remains  of  that  repast  for 
which  he  is  indebted  to  her.  Even  when  she  is  at  a 
distance,  informed  by  the  movements  of  the  lasso  of 
the  direction  she  has  taken,  he  pursues  her  still. 

Suddenly  the  cord  tightens  in  his  hand.  He  pulls 
again,  he  pulls  with  force  ;  the  cord  resists !  Fire 
mounts  to  his  brain  ;  his  sluggish  blood  is  quickened  ; 
his  heart  and  temples  beat  violently  ;  his  fever  returns, 
but  only  to  restore  to  him,  at  this  decisive  moment, 
his  former  vigor.  He  hastily  digs  new  steps  in  the 
interstices  of  the  rock  ;  with  his  hands  suspending 
himself  to  the  lasso,  assisted  by  his  feet,  by  his  knees, 
sometimes  turning,  grasping  the  projecting  roots,  the 
angles  of  his  wall,  he  at  last  reaches  the  top  of  the 

cliff. 

Suddenly  he  feels  the  lasso  stretch,  as  if  about  to 
break  ;  a  mist  passes  over  his  eyes  :  his  head  becomes 
dizzy,  the  cord  escapes  his  grasp.  But,  by  a  mechan- 
ical movement,  he  has  seized  one  of  the  highest 
projections  of  the  tunnel,  he  holds  it,  he  climbs,  —  he 
is  saved. 

And  during  this  perilous  ascension,  absorbed  in  the 
difficulties  of  the  undertaking,  attentive  to  himself 
alone,  staggering,  with  a  buzzing  sound  in  his  ears,  he 
has  not  heard  a  sorrowful,  lamentable  moaning,  not 
far  from  him. 

Dragging  hither  and  thither  after  her  the  rope  of 
leather  and  fibre  of  aloes,  Marimonda,  rather,  doubt- 
less, by  chance  than  by  calculation,  had  enlaced  it 
around  the   trunk   of  the   same   tree  which  the  night 


100  THE    SOLITARY    OF    JUAN    FERNANDEZ, 

before,  during  the  storm,  had  agitated  its  dishevelled 
branches  above  the  deep  couch  of  the  dying  man. 
This  trunk  had  served  as  a  point  of  resistance  ;  but, 
during  the  tension,  the  unfortunate  monkey,  with  her 
breast  against  the  tree,  had  herself  been  caught  in  the 
folds  of  the  lasso. 

When  Selkirk  arrives,  he  finds  her  extended  on  the 
ground,  blood  and  foam  issuing  from  her  mouth,  and  her 
eyes  starting  from  their  sockets.  Kneeling  beside  her, 
he  loosens  the  bonds  which  still  detain  her.  Excited  by 
his  presence,  Marimonda  makes  an  eifort  to  rise,  but 
immediately  falls  back,  uttering  a  new  cry  of  pain. 

With  his  heart  full  of  anguish,  taking  her  in  his 
arms,  Selkirk,  not  without  a  painful  effort,  not  without 
being  obliged  to  pause  on  the  way  to  recover  his 
strength,  carries  her  to  the  dwelling  on  the  shore. 

This  shore  he  finds  deserted  and  in  confusion. 

Deprived  of  their  daily  nourishment  during  the  pro- 
lonsjed  absence  of  their  master,  the  goats  have  made  a 
passage  through  the  inclosure,  by  gnawing  the  still 
green  foliage  which  imprisoned  them  ;  the  hun'icane  of 
the  night  has  overthrown  the  rest.  Before  leaving, 
they  had  ravaged  the  garden,  destroyed  the  promises 
of  the  approaching  harvest,  and  devoured  even  the 
bark  of  the  young  trees.  The  cats  have  followed  the 
goats.  Selkirk  has  before  his  eyes  a  spectacle  of 
desolation ;  his  props,  his  trellises,  the  remains  of  his 
orchard,  of  his  inclosure,  of  his  shed,  a  part  even  of 
the  roof  of  his  cabin,  strew  the  earth  in  confusion 
around  him. 

But  it  is  not  this  which  occupies  him  now.  He  has 
prepared   for  Marimonda  a   bed  beside   his  own ;  he 


OR  THE  REAL  ROBINi:ON  CRUSOK.        101 

takes  care  of  her,  he  watches  over  her,  he  leaves  her 
only  to  seek  in  the  woods,  or  on  the  mountains,  the 
herb  which  may  heal  her ;  he  brings  all  sorts,  and  by 
arm fuls,  that  she  may  choose  ; — does  she  not  know 
them  better  than  himself? 

As  she  turns  away  her  head,  or  repulses  with  the 
hand  those  which  he  presents,  he  thinks  he  has  not  yet 
discovered  the  one  she  requires,  and  though  still  suffer- 
ing, though  himself  exhausted  by  so  many  varying 
emotions,  he  re-commences  his  search,  to  summon  the 
entire  island  to  the  assistance  of  Marimonda.  From 
each  of  his  trees  he  borrows  a  branch ;  from  his 
bushes,  his  rocks,  his  streams  —  a  plant,  a  fruit,  a  leaf, 
a  root !  For  the  first  time  he  ventures  across  the 
pajonah — spongy  marshes  formed  by  the  sea  along 
the  cliffs,  and  where,  beneath  the  shade  of  the  man- 
groves, grow  those  singular  vegetables,  those  gelatinous 
plants,  endowed  with  vitality  and  motion.  At  sight  of 
all  these  remedies,  Marimonda  closes  her  eyes,  and  re- 
opens them  only  to  address  to  her  friend  a  look  of 
gratitude. 

The  only  thing  she  accepts  is  the  water  he  offers 
her,  the  water  which  he  himself  holds  to  her  lips  in  his 
cocoa-nut  cup. 

During  a  whole  week,  Selkirk  remains  constantly 
absorbed  in  these  cares,  useless  cares  !  —  Marimonda 
cannot  be  healed  !  In  her  breast,  bruised  by  the  folds 
of  the  lasso,  exists  an  important  lesion  of  the  organs 
essential  to  life,  and  from  time  to  time  a  gush  of  blood 
reddens  her  white  teeth. 

'  What ! '  said  Selkirk  to  himself,  '  she  has  then 
accompanied  me  on  this  corner  of  earth  only  to  be 


IQZ  THE    ;:OLlTAlir    OF    JUAN    FERNANDEZ, 

my  victim  !  To  her  first  caress  I  replied  only  by 
brutality ;  the  first  shot  I  fired  in  this  island  was 
directed  against  her.  I  pursued  for  a  long  time,  with 
my  thoughtless  and  stupid  hatred,  the  only  being  who 
has  ever  loved  me,  and  who  to-day  is  dying  for  having 
saved  me  from  that  precipice  from  which  I  drove  her 
with  blows  of  stones !  Marimonda,  my  companion, 
my  friend,  —  no!  thou  shalt  not  die!  He  who  sent 
thee  to  me  as  a  consolation  will  not  take  thee  away  so 
soon,  to  leave  me  a  thousand  times  more  alone,  more 
unhappy,  than  ever !  God,  in  clothing  thee  with  a 
form  almost  human,  has  undoubtedly  given  thee  a  soul 
almost  like  ours  ;  the  gleam  of  tenderness  and  intelli- 
gence which  shines  in  thine  eyes,  where  could  it  have 
been  lighted,  but  at  that  divine  fire  whence  all  affection 
and  devotion  emanate  ?  Well !  I  will  implore  Him  for 
thee  ;  and  if  He  refuse  to  hear  me,  it  will  be  because 
He  has  forgotten  me,  because  He  has  entirely  forsaken 
me,  and  I  shall  have  nothing  more  to  expect  from  His 
mercy ! ' 

Falling  then  upon  his  knees,  with  his  forehead  upon 
the  ground,  he  prays  God  for  Marimonda. 

Meanwhile,  from  day  to  day  the  poor  invalid  grows 
weaker ;  her  eyes  become  dim  and  glassy ;  her  limbs 
frightfully  emaciated,  and  her  hair  comes  off  in  large 
masses. 

One  evening,  exhausted  with  fatigue,  after  having 
wrapped  in  a  covering  of  goat-skin  Marimonda,  who 
was  in  a  violent  fever,  Selkirk  was  preparing  to  retire 
to  rest;  she  detained  him,  and,  taking  his  hand  in  both 
of  hers,  cast  upon  him  a  gentle  and  prolonged  look, 
which  resembled  an  adieu. 


OR  THE  REAL  ROBINSON  CRUSOE.        103 

He  seated  himself  beside  her  on  the  ground. 

Then,  without  letting  go  his  hand,  she  leaned  her 
head  on  her  master's  knee,  and  fell  asleep  in  this 
position.  Selkirk  dares  not  stir,  for  fear  of  disturbing 
her  repose.     Insensibly  sleep  seizes  him  also. 

In  the  morning  when  he  awakes,  the  sun  is  illumi- 
nating the  interior  of  his  cabin ;  Marimonda  remains 
in  the  same  attitude  as  the  evening  before,  but  her 
hands  are  cold,  and  a  swarm  of  flies  and  mosquitoes 
are  thrusting  their  sharp  trunks  into  her  eyes  and  ears. 

She  is  a  corpse. 

Selkirk  raises  her,  uttering  a  cry,  and,  after  having 
cast  an  angry  look  towards  heaven,  wipes  away  two 
tears  that  trickle  down  his  cheeks. 

Thou  thoughtest  thyself  insensible,  Selkirk,  and  be- 
hold, thou  art  weeping! — thou,  who  hast  more  than 
once  seen,  with  unmoistened  eye,  men,  thy  com- 
panions, in  war  or  at  sea,  fall  beneath  a  furious  sword, 
or  under  the  fire  of  batteries  !  Among  the  sentiments 
which  honor  humanity,  which  elevate  it  notwithstand- 
ino;  its  defects,  thou  hadst  preserved  at  least  thy  confi- 
dence in  God  and  in  his  mercy,  Selkirk,  and  to-day 
thou  doubtest  both  ! 

Why  dost  thou  weep  ?  why  dost  thou  distrust  God  ? 

Because  thy  monkey  is  dead  ! 


104  THE   SOLITARY    OF   JUAN    FERNANDEZ, 


CHAPTER  X. 

Discouragement.  —  A  Discovery.  —  A  Retrospective  Glance.  — 
Project  of  Suicide.  —  The  Last  Shot.  —  The  Sea  Serpent. — 
The  Potto. — A  Message.  —  Another  Solitary. 

His  provisions  are  exhausted,  and  Selkirk  thinks 
not  of  renewing  them  ;  his  settlement  on  the  shore  is 
destroyed,  and  he  thinks  not  of  rebuilding  it ;  the  fish- 
pond, the  bed  of  water-cresses  are  encroached  upon 
by  sand  and  weeds,  and  he  thinks  not  of  repairing 
them.  His  mind,  completely  discouraged,  recoils  be- 
fore such  labors ;  he  has  scarcely  troubled  himself  to 
replace  the  roof  of  his  cabin. 

In  the  midst  of  his  dreams,  Selkirk  had  not  counted 
enough  on  two  terrific  guests,  which  must  sooner  or 
later  come  :  despair  and  ennui. 

Nevertheless,  he  had  read  in  his  Bible  this  passage : 
'  As  the  worm  gnaweth  the  garment  and  rottenness 
the  wood,  so  doth  the  weariness  of  solitude  gnaw  the 
heart  of  man.' 

One  day,  as  he  was  descending  from  the  Oasis, 
wht^re  he  had  dug  a  tomb  for  Marimonda,  he  be- 
thought himself  of  visiting  the  site  of  his  burning 
wood. 

Around  him,  the  earth,  blackened  by  the  ravages  of 
the  fire,  presented  only  a  naked,  gloomy  and  desolate 
picture.     To   his   great   surprise,   beneath    the    ruins, 


OR  THE  REAL  ROBINSON  CRUSOE.        105 

under  coal  dust  and  half-calcined  trunks  of  trees,  he 
discovered,  elevated  several  feet  above  the  soil,  the 
partition  of  a  wall,  some  stones  quarried  out  and 
placed  one  upon  another ;  in  fine,  the  remains  of  a 
building,  evidently  constructed  by  the  hand  of  man. 

Men  had  then  inhabited  this  island  before  him ! 
What  had  become  of  them  ?  This  wood,  impenetrably 
choked,  stifled  vi^ith  thorny  bushes,  briars  and  vines, 
and  which  he  had  delivered  over  to  the  flames,  was 
undoubtedly  a  garden  planted  by  them,  on  a  sheltered 
declivity  of  the  mountain  ;  the  garden  which  sur- 
rounded their  habitation,  as  he  had  himself  designed 
his  own  to  do. 

Ah  !  if  he  could  have  but  found  them  in  the  island, 
how  different  would  have  been  his  fate  !  But  to  live 
alone  !  to  have  no  companions  but  his  own  thoughts ! 
amid  the  dash  of  waves,  the  cry  of  birds,  the  bleating 
of  goats,  incessantly  to  imagine  the  sound  of  a  human 
voice,  and  incessantly  to  experience  the  torture  of 
being  undeceived  !  What  elements  of  happiness  has 
he  ever  met  in  this  miserable  island  ?  When  he 
dreamed  of  creating  resources  for  a  long  and  peaceful 
future,  he  lied  to  himself.  A  life  favored  by  leisure 
would  but  crush  him  the  oftener  beneath  the  weight  of 
thought,  and  it  is  thought  which  is  killing  him,  the 
thought  of  isolation  ! 

What  import  to  him  the  beautiful  sights  spread  out 
before  his  eyes  ?  The  vast  extent  of  sky  and  earth 
has  repeated  to  him  each  day  that  he  is  lost,  forgotten 
on  an  obscure  point  of  the  globe.  The  sunrises  and 
sunsets,  with  their  magic  aspects,  this  luxuriant  tropi- 
cal vegetation,  the  magnificent  and  picturesque  scenery 


106  THE    SOLITARY    OF    JUAN    FERNANDEZ, 

of  his  island,  awaken  in  him  only  a  feeling  of  restraint, 
an  uneasiness  which  he  cannot  define.  Perhaps  the 
emotions,  so  sweet  to  all,  are  painful  to  him  only 
because  he  cannot  communicate  them,  share  them 
with  another.  It  is  not  the  'noisy  life  of  cities  which 
he  asks,  not  even  that  of  the  shore.  But,  at  least,  a 
companion,  a  being  to  reply  to  his  voice,  to  be  asso- 
ciated with  his  joys,  his  sorrows.  Marimonda !  No, 
he  recognizes  it  now  !  Marimonda  could  amuse  him, 
but  was  not  sufficient ;  she  inhabited  with  him  only  the 
exterior  world,  she  communicated  with  him  only  by 
things  visible  and  palpable  ;  her  affection  for  her  mas- 
ter, her  gentleness,  her  admirable  instinct,  sometimes 
succeeded  in  lessening  the  distance  which  separated 
their  two  natures,  but  did  not  wholly  fill  up  the  in- 
terval. 

He  had  exaggerated  the  intelligence  which,  besides, 
increased  at  the  expense  of  her  strength,  as  with  all 
monkeys  ;  for  God  has  not  willed  that  an  animal 
should  approximate  too  closely  to  man  ;  he  had  over- 
rated the  sense  of  her  acts,  because  he  needed  near 
him  a  thinking  and  acting  being  ;  but  with  her,  con- 
fidences, plans,  hopes,  communication,  the  exchange 
of  all  those  intimate  and  mysterious  thoughts  which 
are  the  life  of  the  soul,  were  they  possible  ?  Even 
her  eyes  did  not  see  like  his  own  ;  admiration  was 
forbidden  to  her ;  admiration,  that  precious  faculty, 
which  exists  only  for  man,  —  and  which  becomes 
extinct  by  isolation. 

How  many  others  become  extinct  also ! 

Self-love,  a  just  self-esteem,  that  powerful  lever 
which  sustains  us,  which  elevates  us,  which  compels 


OR  THE  REAL  ROBINSON  CRUSOE.       107 

US  to  respect  in  ourselves  that  nobility  of  race  which 
we  derive  from  God,  what  becomes  of  it  in  solitude  ? 
For  Selkirk,  vanity  itself  has  lost  its  power  to  stimu- 
late. Formerly,  when  in  the  presence  of  his  com- 
rades at  St.  Andrew  or  of  the  royal  fleet,  he  had 
signalized  himself  by  feats  of  address  or  courage,  a 
sentiment  of  pride  or  triumph  had  inspired  him.  Since 
his  arrival  in  the  island,  his  courage  and  address  have 
had  but  too  frequent  opportunities  of  exercising  them- 
selves, but  he  has  been  excited  only  by  want,  by 
necessity,  by  a  purely  personal  interest.  Besides,  can 
one  utter  an  exclamation  of  triumph,  where  there  is 
not  even  an  echo  to  repeat  it  ? 

After  having  thus  painfully  passed  in  review  all  of 
which  his  exile  from  the  world  had  deprived  him,  he 
exclaimed  : 

'  To  live  alone,  what  a  martyrdom  !  to  live  useless 
to  all,  what  a  disgrace  !  What !  does  no  one  need 
me  ?  "What !  are  generosity,  devotion,  even  pity,  all 
those  noble  instincts  by  which  the  soul  reveals  itself, 
for  ever  interdicted  to  me  ?  This  is  death,  death 
premature  and  shameful !  Ah  !  why  did  I  not  remain 
at  the  foot  of  that  precipice  ?  ' 

With  downcast  head,  he  remained  some  time  over- 
whelmed W' ith  the  weight  of  his  discouragement ;  then, 
suddenly,  his  brow  cleared  up,  a  sinister  thought 
crossed  his  mind  ;  he  ran  to  his  cabin,  seized  his  gun. 
This  last  shot,  this  last  charge  of  powder  and  lead, 
which  he  has  preserved  so  preciously  as  a  final  re- 
source, it  will  serve  to  put  an  end  to  his  days !  Well, 
is  not  this  the  most  valuable  service  he  can  expect 
from  it  ?     He  examines  the  gun ;  the  priming  is  yet 


108  THE    SOLITARY    OF    JUAN    FERNANDEZ, 

undisturbed  ;  he  passes  his  nail  over  the  flint,  leans 
the  butt  against  the  ground,  takes  off  the  thick  leather 
which  covers  his  foot,  that  he  may  be  able  to  fire  with 
more  certainty.  But  during  all  these  preparations  his 
resolution  grows  weaker ;  he'  trembles  as  he  rests  the 
gun  against  his  temples;  that  sentiment  of  self-pre- 
servation, so  profoundly  implanted  in  the  heart  of  man, 
re-awakens  in  him.  He  hesitates  —  thrice  returning 
to  his  first  resolution,  he  brings  the  gun  to  his  fore- 
head ;  thrice  he  removes  it.  At  last,  to  drive  away 
this  demon  of  suicide,  he  fires  it  in  the  air. 

Scarcely  has  he  thus  uselessly  thrown  away  this 
precious  shot  before  he  repents.  He  approaches  the 
shore  ;  it  is  at  the  moment  when  the  tide  is  at  its 
lowest  ebb  ;  the  sun  touches  the  horizon.  Selkirk  lies 
down  on  the  damp  beach:  —  'When  the  wave  re- 
turns,' said  he,  '  if  it  be  God's  will,  let  it  take  me  ! ' 

Slumber  comes  first.  Exhausted  with  emotion, 
yielding  to  the  lassitude  of  his  mind,  he  falls  asleep. 
In  the  middle  of  the  night,  suddenly  awakened  by  the 
sound  of  the  advancing  wave,  he  again  flees  before  the 
threat  of  death  ;  he  no  longer  wishes  to  die.  Once  in 
safety,  he  turns  to  contemplate  that  immense  sea 
which,  for  an  instant,  he  had  wished  might  be  his 
tomb. 

By  the  moonlight,  he  perceives  as  it  were  a  long 
awi  slender  chain,  which,  gliding  upon  the  crest  of  the 
waves,  directs  itself  towards  the  shore.  By  its  form, 
by  its  copper  color,  by  the  multiplicity  of  its  rings, 
unfolding  in  the  distance,  Selkirk  recognizes  the  sea- 
serpent,  that  terror  of  navigators,  as  he  has  often  heard 
it  described. 


OR  THE  REAL  ROBINSON  CRUSOE.       109 

The  mind  of  the  solitary  is  a  perpetual  mirage. 

Filled  with  terror,  he  flies  again  ;  he  conceals  him- 
self, trembling,  in  the  caverns  of  his  mountains  ;  he 
has  become  a  coward  ;  why  should  he  affect  a  courage 
he  does  not  feel  ?     No  one  is  looking  at  him ! 

The  next  day,  instead  of  the  sea-serpent,  he  finds 
on  the  beach  an  immense  cryptogamia,  a  gigantic 
alga,  of  a  single  piece,  divided  into  a  thousand  cylin- 
drical branches,  and  much  superior  to  all  those  he  has 
observed  in  the  Straits  of  Sunda.  The  rising  tide  had 
thrown  it  on  the  shore. 

While  he  examines  it,  he  sees  with  surprise  all  sorts 
of  birds  come  to  peck  at  it ;  coatis,  agoutis,  and  even 
rats,  come  out  of  their  holes,  boldly  cariying  away 
before  his  eyes  fragments,  whence  issues  a  thick  and 
brown  sap.  Emboldened  by  their  example,  and  espe- 
cially by  the  balsamic  odor  of  the  plant,  he  tastes  it. 
It  is  sweet  and  succulent. 

This  plant  is  no  other  than  that  providential  vege- 
table called  by  the  Spaniards  porro,  and  which  forms 
so  large  a  part  of  the  nourishment  of  the  poor  inhab- 
itants of  Chili. 1 

The  sea,  which   had  already  sent  Selkirk  seals  to 

furnish  him  with  oil  and  furs  in  a  moment  of  distress, 

had  just  come  to  his  assistance  by  giving  him  an  easily 

procured  aliment  for  a  long  time. 

Another  surprise  awaits  him. 

Between  the  interlaced  branches  of  his  alga,  he  dis- 


^  It  is  the  Durvilloca  utilis,  dedicated  to  Dumont  d'Urville, 
by  Bory  de  St.  Vincent,  and  classed  by  him  in  the  laminarioes, 
an  important  and  valuable  family  of  marine  cryptogamia. 


110  THE    SOLITARY    OF    JUAN    FERNANDEZ, 

covers  a  little  bottle,  strongly  secured  with  a  cork  and 
wax.  It  contains  a  fragment  of  parchment,  on  which 
are  traced  some  lines  in  the  Spanish  language. 

Although  he  is  but  imperfectly  acquainted  with  this 
language,  though  the  characters  are  partially  effaced 
or  scarcely  legible,  Selkirk,  by  dint  of  patience  and 
study,  soon  deciphers  the  following  words : 

'  In  the  name  of  the  Holy  Trinity,  to  you  who  may 
read' — (here  some  words  were  wanting,)  —  'greet- 
ing. My  name  is  Jean  Gons  —  (Gonzalve  or  Gonsa- 
les  ;  the  rest  of  the  name  was  illegible.)  After  having 
seen  my  two  sons,  and  almost  all  my  fortune,  swal- 
lowed up  in  the  sea  with  the  vessel  Fernand  Cortes, 
in  which  I  was  a  passenger,  thrown  by  shipwreck  on 
the  coasts  of  the  Island  of  San  Ambrosio,  near  Chili, 
I  live  here  alone  and  desolate.  May  God  and  men 
come  to  my  aid  ! ' 

At  the  bottom  of  the  parchment,  some  other  charac- 
acters  were  perceptible,  but  without  form,  without  con- 
nection, and  almost  entirely  destroyed  by  a  slight 
mould  which  had  collected  at  the  bottom  of  the  bottle. 


OR  THE  REAL  ROBINSON  CRUSOE.        Ill 


CHAPTER  XI. 

The  Island  San  Ambrosio.  —  Selkirk  at  last  knows  what 
Friendship  is.  —  The  Raft.  —  Visits  to  the  Tomb  of  Mari- 
monda.  —  The  Departure.  —  The  two  Islands.  —  Shipwreck. 
—  The  Port  of  Safety. 

As  he  read  this,  Selkirk  was  seized  with  intense 
pity  for  the  unfortunate  shipwrecked.  What !  on  this 
same  ocean,  undoubtedly  on  these  same  shores,  lives 
another  unhappy  being,  like  himself  exiled  from  the 
world,  enduring  the  same  sufferings,  subject  to  the 
same  wants,  experiencing  the  same  eimui,  the  same 
anguish  as  himself!  this  man  has  confided  to  the  sea 
his  cry  of  distress,  his  complaint,  and  the  sea,  a  faith- 
ful messenger,  has  just  deposited  it  at  the  feet  of 
Selkirk  ! 

Suddenly  he  remembers  that  rock,  that  island,  dis- 
cerned by  him,  on  the  day  when  at  the  Oasis,  he  was 
reconciled  to  Marimonda. 

That  is  the  island  of  San  Ambrosio ;  it  is  there,  he 
does  not  doubt  it  for  an  instant,  that  his  new  friend 
lives  ;  yes,  his  friend  !  for,  from  this  moment  he  expe- 
riences for  him  an  emotion  of  sympathetic  affection. 
He  loves  him,  he  is  so  much  to  be  pitied !  Poor 
father,  he  has  lost  his  sons,  he  has  lost  his  fortune  and 
the  hope  of  returning  to  his  country  ;  and  yet  there 
reigns  in  his   letter  a  tone  of  dignified  calmness,  of 


1  12  THE    SOLITARY    OF    JUAN    FERNANDEZ, 

religious  resignation  which  can  come  only  from  a 
noble  heart.  He  is  a  Spaniard  and  a  Roman  Catho- 
lic ;  Selkirk  is  a  Scotchman  and*a  Presbyterian  ;  what 
matters  it  ? 

To-day  his  friend  demands  assistance,  and  he  has 
resolved  to  dare  all,  to  undertake  all  to  respond  to 
his  appeal.  Like  a  lamp  deprived  of  air,  his  mind 
has  revived  at  this  idea,  that  he  can  at  last  be  useful 
to  others  than  himself.  The  inhabitant  of  San  Am- 
brosio  shall  be  indebted  to  him  for  an  alleviation  of  his 
sorrows  ;  for  companionship  in  them.  What  is  there 
visionary  about  this  hope  ?  Had  he  not  already  con- 
ceived the  project  of  preparing  a  barque  to  explore 
that  unknown  coast  ?  God  seems  to  encourage  his 
design,  by  sending  him  at  once  this  double  manna  for 
the  body  and  soul,  the  porro,  which  will  suffice  for  his 
nourishment,  and  this  writing,  which  the  wave  has  just 
brought,  to  impose  on  him  a  duty. 

He  immediately  sets  himself  to  the  work,  and  obsta- 
cles are  powerless  to  chill  his  generous  excitement. 
Of  the  vegetable  productions  of  the  island,  the  red 
cedar  and  myrtle  are  those  which  grow  of  the  largest 
size;i  but  yet  their  trunks  are  not  large  enough  to 
serve  when  hollowed  out  for  a  barque.  Well !  he  will 
construct  a  raft. 

He  fells  young  trees,  cuts  off  their  branches,  rolls 
thojn  to  the  shore,  on  a  platform  of  sand,  which  the 
waves  reach  at  certain  periods  ;  he  fastens  them  solidly 
together  with  a  triple  net-work  of  plaited  leather,  cords 


'  The  myrtus  mazimus  attains  13  metres  (a  Uttle  more  than 
42  feet)  in  height. 


OR  THE  REAL  ROBINSON  CRUSOE.        113 

woven  of  the  fibre  of  the  aloe,  supple  and  tovigh  vines  ; 
he  chooses  another  with  diverging  and  horizontal  roots, 
the  habitual  direction  taken  by  all  the  large  vegetables 
of  this  island,  the  sand  of  which  is  covered  only  by 
two  feet  of  earth.  This  shall  be  the  mast.  He  plants 
it  in  the  middle  of  the  raft,  where  it  is  kept  upright  by 
its  roots,  knotted  and  interwoven  with  the  various 
pieces  which  compose  the  floor.  For  a  sail,  has  he 
not  that  v/hich  was  left  him  by  the  Swordfish  ?  and 
will  not  his  seal-skin  hammock  serve  as  a  spare  sail  ? 

He  afterwards  constructs  a  helm,  then  two  strong 
oars,  that  he  may  neglect  no  chance  of  success.  He 
fastens  his  structure  still  more  firmly  by  all  that  re- 
mains to  him  of  his  nails  and  bolts,  and  awaits  the 
high  tide  to  launch  his  skiff  upon  the  sea. 

He  has  never  felt  calmer,  happier,  than  during  the 
long  time  occupied  in  these  labors;  their  object  has 
doubled  his  strength.  The  moments  of  indispensable 
repose,  he  has  passed  at  the  Oasis,  beside  the  tomb  of 
Marimonda,  of  that  Marimonda,  who  by  her  example,, 
opened  to  him  the  life  of  devoledness  in  which  he  has 
just  engaged.  Thence,  with  his  eye  turned  upon  that 
island  where  dwells  the  unknown  friend  from  whom  he 
has  received  a  summons,  he  talks  to  him,  encourages 
him,  consoles  him ;  he  imparts  to  him  his  resolution  to 
join  him  soon,  and  it  seems  as  if  the  same  waves 
which  had  brought  the  message  will  also  undertake  to 
transmit  the  reply. 

At  present,  Selkirk  finds  some  sweetness  in  pitying 
evils  which  are  not  his  own  :  he  no  lonijer  dreams  of 
wrapping  himself  in  a  cloak  of  selfishness;    that  dis- 

8 


114  THE    SOLITARY    OF    JUAN    FERNANDEZ, 

dainful  heart,  hitherto  invincibly  closed,  at  last  experi- 
ences friendship,  or  at  least  aspires  to  do  so. 

At  last,  the  day  arrives  when  the  sea,  inundating 
the  marshes,  bending  the  mangroves,  reaches,  on  the 
sandy  platform,  one  of  the  corners  of  his  raft. 

Selkirk  hastens  to  transport  thither  his  hatchets,  his 
guns,  his  seal-skins  and  goat-skins,  his  Bible,  his  spy- 
glass, his  pipes,  his  ladder,  his  stools,  even  his  traps  ; 
all  his  riches  !  it  is  a  complete  removal. 

On  taking  possession  of  the  island,  he  had  engraved 
on  the  bark  of  several  trees  the  date  of  his  arrival ;  he 
now  inscribes  upon  them  the  day  of  his  departure. 
For  many  months  his  reckoning  has  been  interrupted ; 
to  determine  the  date  is  impossible  ;  he  knows  only 
the  day  of  the  week. 

When  the  wave  had  entirely  raised  his  barque,  aiding 
himself  with  one  of  the  long  oars  to  propel  it  over 
the  rocky  bottom,  he  gained  the  sea.  Then,  after 
having  adjusted  his  sail,  with  his  hand  on  the  helm,  he 
iurned  towards  his  island  to  address  to  it  an  adieu, 
laden  with  maledictions  rather  than  regrets. 

Swelled  by  a  south-east  wind,  the  sail  pursues  its 
course  towards  that  other  land,  the  object  of  his  new 
desires.  At  the  expiration  of  some  hours,  by  the  aid 
of  his  glass,  what  from  the  summit  of  his  mountains 
had  appeared  to  him  only  a  dark  point,  a  rock  beaten 
b^^the  waves,  seems  already  enlarged,  allowing  him  to 
see  high  hills  covered  with  verdure.  He  has  not  then 
deceived  himself!  There  exists  a  habitable  land,^ — 
habitable  for  two !  It  has  served  as  a  refuge  to  the 
shipwrecked  man,  to  his  friend  !  Ah  !  how  impatient 
he  is  to  reach  this  shore  where  he  is  to  meet  him ! 


OR  THE  REAL  ROBINSON  CRUSOE.        115 

Sevpral  hours  more  of  a  slow  but  peaceful  naviga- 
tion roll  away.  He  has  arrived  at  a  distance  almost 
midway  between  the  point  of  departure  and  that  of 
arrival.  Looking  alternately  at  the  islands  Selkirk  and 
San  Ambrosio,  both  illuminated  by  the  sunset,  with 
their  indefinite  forms,  their  bases  buried  in  the  waves, 
their  terraced  summits,  veiled  with  a  light  fog,  they 
appear  like  the  reflection  of  each  other.  But  for  the 
discovery  which  he  had  previously  made  of  the  second, 
he  would  have  believed  this  was  his  own  island,  or 
rather  its  image,  represented  in  the  waters  of  the  sea. 

But  in  proportion  as  he  advances  towards  his  new 
conquest,  it  increases  to  his  eyes,  as  if  to  testify  the 
reality  of  its  existence,  now  by  a  mountain  peak,  now 
by  a  cape.  He  had  seen  only  the  profile,  it  now  pre- 
sents its  face,  ready  to  develope  all  its  graces,  all  its 
fascinations  ;  while  its  rival,  disdained,  abandoned, 
becomes  by  degrees  effaced,  and  seems  to  wish  to 
conceal  its  humiliation  beneath  the  wave  of  the  great 
ocean. 

Suddenly,  without  any  apparent  jar,  without  any 
flaw  of  wind,  on  a  calm  sea,  the  stem  of  the  tree  serv- 
ing as  a  mast  vacillates,  bends  forward,  then  on  one 
side  ;  the  roots,  which  fasten  it  to  the  floor  of  the  raft, 
are  wrenched  from  their  hold  ;  the  sail,  diverging  in 
the  same  direction,  still  extended,  drags  it  entirely 
down,  and  it  is  borne  away  by  the  wave. 

Struck  wdth  astonishment,  Selkirk  puts  his  foot  on 
the  helm,  and  seizes  his  oars  ;  but  oars  are  powerless 
to  move  so  heavy  a  machine.     What  is  to  be  done  ? 

He  who  has  not  been  able  to  endure  isolation  in  the 
midst  of  a  terrestrial  paradise,  from  which  he  has  just 


116  THE    SOLITARY    OF    JUAN    FERNANDEZ, 

voluntaiily  exiled  himself,  must  he  then  be  reduced  to 
have  for  an  asylum,  on  the  immensity  of  the  ocean, 
only  a  few  trunks  of  trees  scarcely  lashed  together  ? 

The  situation  is  frightful,  terrijBc  ;  Selkirk  dares  not 
contemplate  it,  lest  his  reason  should  give  way.  He 
must  have  a  sail ;  a  mast !  He  has  his  spare  sail  ;  for 
the  mast,  his  only  resource  is  to  detach  one  of  the 
timbers  which  compose  the  frame-work  of  his  raft. 
Perhaps  this  will  destroy  its  solidity  ;  but  he  has  no 

choice. 

He  takes  the  best  of  his  hatchets,  chooses  among 
the  straight  stems  of  which  his  floating  dwelling  is 
composed,  that  which  seems  most  suitable  ;  he  cuts 
away  with  a  thousand  precautions,  the  bonds  which 
fasten  it ;  he  frees  it,  not  without  difficulty,  from  the 
contact  of  other  logs  to  which  it  has  been  attached. 
But  while  he  devotes  himself  to  this  task,  the  raft, 
obedient  to  a  mysterious  motion  of  the  sea,  has  slowly 
drifted  on  ;  the  surface  is  covered  with  foam,  as  if 
sub-marine  waves  are  lashing  it.  Selkirk  springs  to 
the  helm  ;  the  tiller  breaks  in  his  hands ;  he  seizes  the 
oars,  they  also  break.  An  unknown  force  hurries  him 
on.  He  has  just  fallen  into  one  of  those  rapid  cur- 
rents which,  from  north  to  south,  traverse  the  waters  - 
of  the  Pacific  Ocean. 

Borne  away  in  a  contrary  direction  from  that  which 
he'^has  hitherto  pursued,  the  land  of  which  h6  had 
come  in  search  seems  to  fly  before  him.  Whither  is 
he  o-oing  ?  Into  what  regions,  into  what  solitudes  of 
the  sea  is  he  to  be  carried,  far  from  islands  and  con- 
tinents ? 

To  add  to  his  terror,  in  these  latitudes,  where  day 


OR  THE  REAL  ROBINSON  CRUSOE.        117 

suddenly  succeeds  to  night  and  night  to  day,  where 
twilight  is  unknown,  the  sun,  just  now  shining  brightly, 
suddenly  sinks  below  the  horizon. 

In  the  midst  of  profound  darkness,  the  unhappy 
man  pursues  this  fatal  race,  leading  to  inevitable  de- 
struction. During  a  part  of  this  terrible  night,  he 
hears  the  frail  frame- work  which  supports  him  crack- 
ing beneath  his  feet.  How  long  must  his  sufferings 
last?  He  knows  not.  At  last,  jostled  by  adverse 
waves,  shaken  to  its  centre,  the  raft  begins  to  whirl 
around,  and  something  heavier  than  the  shock  of  the 
wave  comes  repeatedly  to  give  it  new  and  rude  blows. 
The  first  rays  of  the  rising  moon,  far  from  calming  the 
terrors  of  the  unhappy  mariner,  increase  them.  In  his 
dizzy  brain,  these  wan  rays  which  silver  the  surface 
of  the  sea,  seem  so  many  phantoms  coming  to  be 
present  at  his  last  moments.  Pale,  bent  double,  with  his 
hair  standing  upright,  clinging  to  some  projection  of 
his  barque,  he  in  vain  attempts  to  fix  his  glance  on 
certain  strange  objects  which  he  sees  ascending,  de- 
scending, and  rolling  around  him. 

They  are  the  trunks  of  the  trees  which  formed  a 
part  of  his  raft,  limbs  detached  from  its  body,  and 
which,  now  drawn  into  the  same  whirlpool,  are  by 
their  repeated  shocks,  aiding  in  his  complete  de- 
struction. 

In  face  of  this  imminent,  implacable  death,  Selkirk 
ceases  to  strufjsle  ajxainst  it.  He  has  now  but  one 
resource  ;  the  belief  in  another  life.  The  religious 
instinct,  which  has  already  come  to  his  assistance, 
revives  with  force.  Clino-inflf  with  his  hands  and  feet 
to  these  wavering  timbers,  which  are  almost  disjoined, 


lis  THE    SOLITARY    OF    JUAN    FERNANDEZ, 

half  inundated  by  the  wave,  which  is  encroaching  more 
and  more  upon  his  last  asylum,  he  directs  his  steps 
towards  the  spot  where  he  had  deposited  his  arms  and 
furs  ;  he  takes  from  among  them  his  Bible,  not  to  read 
it,  but  to  clasp  it  to  his  heart,  whose  agitation  and 
terror  seem  to  grow  calm  beneath  its  sacred  contact. 

He  then  attempts  to  absorb  his  thoughts  in  God  ;  he 
blames  himself  for  not  having  been  contented  with  the 
gifts  he  had  received  from  Him  ;  he  might  have  lived 
happily  in  Scotland,  or  in  the  royal  navy.  It  is  this 
perpetual  desire  for  change,  these  aspirations  after  the 
unknown,  which  have  occasioned  his  ruin. 

At  this  moment,  raising  his  eyes  towards  heaven, 
he  sees,  beneath  the  pale  rays  of  the  moon,  a  mass  of 
rocks  rising  at  a  little  distance,  which  he  immediately 
recognizes.  There  is  the  bay  of  the  Seals,  the  peak 
of  the  Discovery.  That  hollow,  lying  in  the  shadow, 
is  the  valley  of  the  Oasis !  As  on  the  first  day  of  his 
arrival,  on  one  of  the  steepest  summits  of  the  moun- 
tain, he  perceives  stationed  there,  immovable,  like  a 
sentinel,  a  goat,  between  whose  delicate  limbs  shines 
a  group  of  stars,  celestial  eyes,  whose  golden  lids 
seem  to  vibrate  as  if  in  appeal.  It  is  his  island  !  He 
does  not  hesitate  ;  suddenly  recovering  all  his  ener- 
gies, he  springs  from  the  raft,  struggles  with  vigor, 
with  perseverance  against  the  current,  triumphs  over 
it,  a!«id,  after  prolonged  efforts,  at  last  reaches  this 
haven  of  deliverance,  this  port  of  safety  ;  he  lands, 
fatigued,  exhausted,  but  overcome  with  joy  and  grati- 
tude. Profoundly  thanking  God  from  his  heart,  he 
prostrates  himself,  and  kisses  with  transport  the  hos- 
pitable soil  of  this  island,  —  which,  on  the  morning  of 
the  same  day,  lie  had  cursed. 


OR  THE  REAL  ROBINSON  CRUSOE.       119 

Alas  !  does  not  reflection  quickly  diminish  this 
lively  joy  at  his  return  and  safety?  From  this  ship- 
wreck, poor  sailor,  thou  hast  saved  only  thyself:  thy 
tools,  thy  instruments  of  labor,  even  thy  Bible,  are  a 
prey  to  the  sea  ! 

It  is  now,  Selkirk, that  thou  must  suffice  for  thyself! 
It  is  the  last  trial  to  which  thou  canst  be  subjected ! 


120  THE    SOLITARY    OF    JUAN    FERNANDEZ, 


CHAPTER  XII. 

The  Island  of  Juan  Fernandez.  —  Encounter  in  the  Moun- 
tains. —  Discussion.  —  A  New  Captivity.  —  A  Cannon-shot. 
—  Dampier  and  Selkirk.  —  Mas  a  Fuera.  —  News  of  Strad- 
ling.  —  Confidences.  —  End  of  the  History  of  the  real  Rob- 
inson Crusoe.  —  Nebuchadnezzar. 

On  the  1st  of  February,  1709,  an  English  vessel, 
equipped  and  sent  to  sea  by  the  merchants  of  Bristol, 
after  having  sailed  around  Cape  Horn,  in  company 
with  another  vessel  belonging  to  the  same  expedition, 
touched  alone,  about  the  33d  degree  of  south  lati- 
tude, at  the  Island  of  Juan  Fernandez,  from  a  hundred 
and  ten  to  a  hundred  and  twenty  leagues  distant  from 
the  coast  of  Chili. 

The  second  ship  was  to  join  her  without  delay. 

Symptoms  of  the  scurvy  had  appeared  on  board, 
and  it  was  intended  to  remain  here  for  some  time,  to 
give  the  crew  opportunity  of  recovering  their  health. 

Their  tents  pitched,  towards  evening  several  sailors, 
having  ventured  upon  the  island,  were  not  a  little  sur- 
prised to  see,  through  the  obscurity,  a  strange  being, 
bearing  some  resemblance  to  the  human  form,  who,  at 
their  approach,  scaling  the  mountains,  leaping  from 
rock  to  rock,  fled  with  the  rapidity  of  a  deer,  the  light- 
ness of  a  chamois. 

Some  doubted  whether  it  was  a   man,  and  prepared 


OR  THE  REAL  ROBINSON  CRUSOE.        121 

to  fire  at  him.  They  were  prevented  by  an  officer 
named  Dower,  who  accompanied  them. 

On  their  return  to  their  companions,  the  sailors 
related  what  they  had  seen  ;  Dower  did  not  fail  to  do 
the  same  among  the  officers  ;  and  this  evening,  at  the 
encampment  on  the  shore,  in  the  forecastle  as  well  as 
on  the  quarter-deck,  there  were  narratives  and  sup- 
positions that  would  '  amuse  an  assembly  of  Puritans 
through  the  whole  of  Lent,'  says  the  account  from 
which  we  borrow  a  part  of  our  information. 

At  this  period,  tales  of  the  marvellous  gained  great 
credence  among  sailors.  Not  long  before,  the  Span- 
iards had  discovered  giants  in  Patagonia  ;  the  Portu- 
guese, sirens  in  the  seas  of  Brazil ;  the  French,  tritons 
and  satyrs  at  Martinique  ;  the  Dutch,  black  men,  with 
feet  like  lobsters,  beyond  Paramaribo. 

The  strange  individual  under  discussion  was  unques- 
tionably a  satyr,  or  at  least  one  of  those  four-footed, 
hairy  men,  such  as  the  authentic  James  Carter 
declared  he  had  met  with  in  the  northern  part  of 
America. 

Some,  thinking  this  conclusion  too  simple,  adroitly 
insinuated  that  no  one  among  the  sailors  who  had  met 
this  monster,  had  noticed  in  him  so  great  a  number  of 
paws.  Why  four  paws  ?  —  why  should  he  not  be  a 
monopedous  man,  a  man  whose  body,  terminated  by  a 
single  leg,  cleared,  with  this  support  alone,  considera- 
ble distances  ?  Was  not  the  existence  of  the  mono- 
pedous man  attested  by  modern  travellers,  and  even  in 
antiquity  and  the  middle  ages,  by  Pliny  and  St.  Au- 
gustine ? 

Others  preferred  to  imagine  in  this  singular  person- 


122  THE    SOLITARY    OF    JUAN    FERNANDEZ, 

age  the  acephalous  man,  the  man  without  a  head, 
named  by  the  grave  Baumgarthen  as  existing  on  the 
new  continent.  They  had  not  discovered  many  legs, 
but  neither  had  they  discovered  a  head  ;  why  should 
he  have  one  ? 

And  the  discussion  continued,  and  not  a  voice  was 
raised  to  risk  this  judicious  observation ;  if  neither 
head  nor  limbs  have  been  distinguished,  it  may  per- 
haps be  because  he  has  been  seen  only  in  the  dark. 

The  next  day,  each  wished  to  be  satisfied  ;  a  regu- 
lar hunt  was  organized  against  this  phenomenon  ;  they 
set  out,  invaded  his  retreat,  pursued  him,  surrounded 
him,  at  last  seized  him,  and  the  brave  sailors  of  Great 
Britain  discovered  with  stupefaction,  in  this  monope- 
dous,  acephalous  man,  in  this  satyr,  this  cercopithe- 
cus,  what  ?  A  countryman,  a  Scotchman,  a  subject  of 
Queen  Anne  ! 

It  was  Selkirk  ;  Selkirk,  his  hair  long  and  in  dis- 
order, his  limbs  encased  in  fragments  of  skins,  and 
half  deprived  of  his  reason. 

His  island  was  Juan  Fernandez,  so  called  by  the 
first  navigator  who  discovered  it;  this  was  Selkirk 
Island. 

When  he  was  conducted  before  Captain  Woodes 
Rogers,  commander  of  the  expedition,  to  the  interro- 
gations of  the  latter,  the  unfortunate  man,  with  down- 
cast look,  and  agitated  with  a  nervous  trembling, 
replied  only  by  repeating  mechanically  the  last  sylla- 
bles of  the  phrases  which  were  addressed  to  him  by 
the  captain. 

A  little  recovered  from  his  agitation,  discovering 
that  he  had  Englishmen  to  deal  with,  he  attempted  to 


OR  THE  REAL  ROBINSON  CRUSOE.  ♦      123 

pronounce  some  words ;  he  could  only  mutter  a  few 
incoherent  and  disconnected  sentences. 

'  Solitude  and  the  care  of  providing  for  his  subsist- 
ence,' says  Paw,  '  had  so  occupied  his  mind,  that  all 
rational  ideas  were  effaced  from  it.  As  savage  as  the 
animals,  and  perhaps  more  so,  he  had  almost  en- 
tirely forgotten  the  secret  of  articulating  intelligible 
sounds.' 

Captain  Rogers  having  asked  him  how  long  he  had 
been  secluded  in  this  island,  Selkirk  remained  silent ; 
he  nevertheless  understood  the  question,  for  his  eyes 
immediately  opened  with  terror,  as  if  he  had  just 
measured  the  long  space  of  time  which  his  exile  had 
lasted.  He  was  far  from  having  an  exact  idea  of  it ; 
appreciated  it  only  by  the  sufferings  he  had  endured 
there7~aftd,  looking  fixedly  at  his  hands,  he  opened  and 
shut  them  several  times. 

Reckoning  by  the  number  of  his  fingers,  it  was 
twenty  or  thirty  years,  and  every  one  at  first  believed 
in  the  accui'acy  of  his  calculation,  so  completely  did 
his  forehead,  furrowed  with  wrinkles,  his  skin  black- 
ened, withered  by  the  sun,  his  hair  whitened  at  the 
roots,  his  gray  beard,  give  him  the  aspect  of  an  old 
man. 

Selkirk  was  born  in  1680  ;  he  was  then  only 
twenty-nine. 

After  having  replied  thus,  he  turned  his  head,  cast  a 
troubled  look  on  the  objects  which  surrounded  him  ;  a 
remembrance  seemed  to  awaken,  and,  uttering  a  cry, 
stepping  forward,  he  pointed  with  his  finger  to  a  cedar 
on  his  left.  It  was  the  tree  on  which,  when  he  left  the 
Swordfish,  he  had  inscribed  the  date  of  his  arrival  in 


124  vTHE    SOLITARY    OF    JUAN    FERNANDEZ, 

the  island.  The  officer  Dower  approached,  and,  not- 
withstanding the  crumbling  of  the  decayed  bark,  could 
still  read  there  this  inscription  :  » 

'  Alexander  Selkirk  —  from  Largo,  Scotland,  Oct. 
27,  1704.' 

His  exile  from  the  world  had  therefore  lasted  four 
years  and  three  months. 

Notwithstanding  the  interest  excited  by  his  misfor- 
tunes, by  his  name,  his  accent,  more  than  by  his  lan- 
guage. Captain  Rogers,  an  honorable  and  humane 
man,  but  of  extreme  severity  on  all  that  appertained 
to  discipline,  recognized  him  as  a  British  subject,  sus- 
pected him  to  be  a  deserter  from  the  English  navy, 
and  gave  orders  that  he  should  be  put  under  guard, 
pending  a  definitive  decision. 

The  sailors  commissioned  to  this  office  did  not  find 
it  an  easy  thing  to  guard  a  prisoner  who  could  climb 
the  trees  like  a  squirrel,  and  outstrip  them  all  in  a 
race.  As  a  precaution,  they  commenced  by  binding 
him  firmly  to  the  same  cedar  on  which  his  name  was 
engraved.  There  the  unfortunate  Selkirk  figured  as  a 
curious  animal,  ornamented  with  a  label. 

Afterwards,  more  for  pastime  than  through  mis- 
chief, they  tormented  him  with  questions,  to  obtain 
from  him  hesitating  or  almost  senseless  replies,  which 
bewildered  him  much  ;  then  they  began  to  examine, 
wi*h  childish  surprise,  the  length  of  his  beard,  of  his 
hair  and  nails  ;  the  prodigious  development  of  his 
muscles ;  his  bare  feet,  so  hardened  by  travel,  that 
they  seemed  to  be  covered  with  horn  moccasins. 
Having  found  beneath  his  goat-skin  rags,  a  knife, 
whose    blade,   by   dint   of  use    and    sharpening,  was 


OR  THE  REAL  ROBINSON  CRUSOE.       125 

almost  reduced  to  the  proportions  of  that  of  a  pen- 
knife, they  took  it  away  to  examine  it ;  but  on  seeing 
himself  deprived  of  this  single  weapon,  the  only  relic 
of  his  shipwreck,  the  prisoner  struggled,  uttering  wild 
howls  ;  they  restored  it  to  him. 

At  the  hour  of  repast,  Selkirk  had,  like  the  rest,  his 
portion  of  meat  and  biscuit.  He  ate  the  biscuit,  mani- 
festing great  satisfaction  ;  but  he,  who  had  at  first 
suffered  so  much  from  being  deprived  of  salt,  found 
in  the  meat  a  degree  of  saltness  insupportable.  He 
pointed  to  the  stream  ;  one  of  his  guards  courteously 
offered  him  his  gourd,  containing  a  mixture  of  rum  and 
water ;  he  approached  it  to  his  lips,  and  immediately 
threw  it  away  with  violence,  as  if  it  had  burned  him. 

At  evening,  he  was  transported  on  board. 

A  few  days  after  he  began  to  acquire  a  taste  for 
common  food ;  his  ideas  became  more  definite ; 
speech  returned  to  his  lips  more  freely  and  clearly  ; 
but  liberty  of  motion  was  not  yet  restored  to  him, 
a  new  captivity  opened  before  him,  and  his  irritation 
at  this  was  presenting  an  obstacle  to  the  complete 
restoration  of  his  faculties,  when  God,  who  had  so 
deeply  tried  him,  came  to  his  assistance. 

One  morning,  as  the  crew  of  the  ship  were  occu- 
pied, some  in  caulking  and  tarring  it,  others  in  gather- 
ing edible  plants  on  the  island,  a  cannon-shot  resounded 
along  the  waves.  The  caulkers  climbed  up  the  lag- 
ging, the  provision-hunters  ran  to  the  shore,  the  officers 
seized  their  spy-glasses,  and  all  together  quickly  uttered 
a  huzza  !  The  vessel  which  had  sailed  in  company  with 
that  of  Captain  Rogers,  the  Duchess,  of  Bristol,  had 
arrived.     This  vessel,  commanded  by  William  Cook, 


126  THE    SOLITARY    OF    JUAN    FERNANDEZ, 

had,  for  a  master-pilot,  a  man  more  celebrated  in 
maritime  annals  than  the  commanders  of  the  expe- 
dition themselves  ;  —  this  was  Dampier,  the  indefati- 
gable William  Dampier,  who,  a  short  time  since  a 
millionaire,  now  completely  ruined  in  consequence  of 
foolish  speculations  and  prodigalities,  had  just  under- 
taken a  third  voyage  around  the  world. 

Scarcely  had  he  disembarked,  when  he  heard  of  the 
great  event  of  the  day  —  of  the  wild  man.  His 
name  was  mentioned,  he  remembered  having  known 
an  Alexander  Selkirk  at  St.  Andrew,  at  the  inn  of  the 
Royal  Salmon.  He  went  to  him,  interrogated  him, 
recognized  him,  and,  without  loss  of  time,  after  having 
had  his  hair  and  beard  cut,  and  procured  suitable 
clothing  for  him,  presented  him  to  Capt.  Rogers ;  he 
introduced  him  as  one  of  his  old  comrades,  formerly 
an  intrepid  and  distinguished  officer  in  the  navy,  one 
of  the  conquerors  of  Vigo,  who  had  been  induced  by 
himself  to  embark  in  the  Swordfish,  partly  at  his 
expense. 

Restored  to  liberty,  supported,  revived,  by  the  kind 
cares  of  Dampier,  his  old  hero,  Selkirk  felt  rejuvenated. 
His  first  thought  then  is  for  that  other  unfortunate  man, 
still  an  exile  perhaps  in  his  desert  island.  After  having 
informed  the  old  sailor  that  he  had  found  a  little  bottle, 
containing  a  written  parchment,  he  said  :  '  Dear  Cap- 
tain^ it  would  be  a  meritorious  act,  and  one  worthy  of 
you,  to  co-operate  in  the  deliverance  of  this  unhappy 
man.  A  boat  will  suffice  for  the  voyage,  since  the  Island 
of  San  Ambrosio  is  so  near  this.  Oh  !  how  joyfully 
would  I  accompany  you  in  this  excursion  ! ' 

*  My  brave  hermit,'    replied  Dampier,  shaking  his 


OR  THE  REAL  ROBINSON  CRUSOE.        127 

head,  '  the  neighboring  island  of  which  you  speak  is 
no  other  than  the  second  in  this  group,  named  Mas  a 
Fuera.  As  for  the  other,  that  San  Ambrosio  which 
you  think  so  near,  if  it  has  not  become  a  floating 
island  since  my  last  voyage,  if  it  is  still  where  I  left  it, 
under  the  Tropic  of  Capricorn,  to  reach  it  will  not  be 
so  trifling  a  matter  ;  besides,  your  little  bottle  must  be  a 
bottle  of  ink.  There  is  here  confusion  of  place  and 
confusion  of  time  ;  not  only  is  Mas  a  Fuera  not  San 
Amhrosio^  but  this  latter  island,  far  from  being  a 
desert,  as  your  correspondent  has  said,  has  been  in- 
habited more  than  twenty  years  by  a  multitude  of 
madmen,  fishermen  and  pirates,  potato-eaters  and  old 
sailors,  who,  when  I  visited  them,  in  1702,  politely 
received  me  with  gun-shots,  and  whose  politeness  I 
returned  with  cannon-shots.  Therefore,  my  boy,  he 
who  wrote  to  you  must  have  been  dead  when  you 
received  his  letter.     What  date  did  it  bear  ?  ' 

'  None,'  said  Selkirk  ;  '  the  last  lines  were  efliaced  ;' 
and  he  trembled  at  the  idea  of  all  the  dangers  he  had 
run  in  pursuit  of  this  friend,  who  no  longer  existed, 
and  of  a  land  which  he  had  never  inhabited. 

After  having  satisfied  a  duty  of  humanity,  that 
which  he  had  regarded  as  a  debt  contracted  towards  a 
friend,  Selkirk,  among  other  inquiries,  let  fall  the  name 
of  Stradling.  This  time,  it  was  hatred  which  asked 
information. 

His  hatred  was  destined  to  be  gratified. 

In  pursuing  his  voyage,  after  having  coasted  along 
the  shores  of  the  Straits  of  Magellan,  Stradling,  sur- 
prised by  a  frightful  hurricane,  had  seen  his  vessel 
entirely   disabled.     Repulsed   at  five   different  times, 


128  THE    SOLITARY    OF    JUAN    FERNANDEZ, 

now  by  the  tempest,  now  by  the  Spaniards,  from  the 
ports  where  he  attempted  to  take  refuge,  he  was 
thrown,  near  La  Plata,  on  an  inhospitable  shore.  At- 
tacked, pillaged  by  the  natives,  half  of  his  crew  having 
perished,  with  the  remains  of  his  ship  he  constructed 
another,  to  which  he  gave  the  name  of  the  Cinque 
Ports,  instead  of  that  of  the  Swordfish,  which  it  was  no 
longer  worthy  to  bear.  This  was  a  large  pinnace,  on 
which  he  had  secretly  returned  to  England.  For  seve- 
ral years  past,  Dampier  had  not  heard  of  him. 

Selkirk  thought  himself  sufficiently  avenged ;  his 
present  happiness  silenced  his  past  ill-will.  He  even 
became  reconciled  to  his  island. 

Each  day  he  traversed  its  divers  parts,  with  emotions 
various  as  the  remembrances  it  awakened.  But  he 
was  now  no  longer  alone  !  Arm  and  arm  with  Dam- 
pier,  he  revisited  these  places  where  he  had  suffered 
so  much,  and  which  often  resumed  for  him  their  en- 
chanting aspects. 

His  companion  was  soon  informed  of  his  history. 
AVhen  he  had  related  what  we  already  know,  from 
his  landing  to  the  construction  of  his  raft,  and  to  his 
frightful  shipwreck,  he  at  last  commenced,  not  without 
some  mortification,  the  recital  of  his  final  miseries, 
which  alone  could  explain  the  deplorable  state  in  which 
the  English  sailors  had  found  him. 

By  the  loss  of  his  hatchets,  his  ladder,  his  other 
instruments  of  labor,  condemned  to  inaction,  to  power- 
lessness,  he  had  nothing  to  occupy  himself  with  but  to 
provide  sustenance.  But  the  sea  had  taken  his  snares 
along  with  the  rest.  He  at  first  subsisted  on  herbs, 
fruits    and    roots  ;    afterwards    his    stomach    rejected 


OR  THE  REAL  EOBTNSON  CRUSOE.        129 

these  crudities,  as  it  had  repulsed  the  fish.  Armed 
with  a  stick,  he  had  chased  the  agoutis ;  for  want  of 
agoutis,  he  had  eaten  rats. 

By  night,  he  silently  climbed  the  trees  to  surprise 
the  female  of  the  toucan  or  blackbird,  which  he  piti- 
lessly stifled  over  their  young  brood.  Meanwhile,  at 
the  noise  he  made  among  the  branches,  this  winged 
prey  almost  always  escaped  him. 

He  tried  to  construct  a  ladder ;  by  the  aid  of  his 
knife  alone,  he  attempted  to  cut  down  two  tall  trees. 
During  this  operation  his  knife  broke  —  only  a  frag- 
ment remained.     This  was  for  him  a  great  trial. 

He  thought  of  makins;,  with  reeds  and  the  fibres  of 
the  aloe,  a  net  to  catch  birds  ;  but  all  patient  occupation, 
all  continuous  labor,  had  become  insupportable  to  him. 

That  he  might  escape  the  gloomy  ideas  which 
assailed  him  more  and  more,  it  became  necessary  to 
avoid  repose,  to  court  bodily  fatigue. 

By  continual  exercise,  his  powers  of  locomotion  had 
developed  in  incredible  proportions.  His  feet  had  be- 
come so  hardened  that  he  no  longer  felt  the  briers  or 
sharp  stones.  When  he  grew  weary,  he  slept,  in 
whatever  place  he  found  himself,  and  these  were  his 
only  quiet  hours.  , 

To  chase  the  agoutis  had  ceased  to  be  an  object 
worthy  of  his  efforts ;  the  kids  took  their  turn,  after- 
wards the  goats.  He  had  acquired  such  dexterity  of 
movement,  and  such  strength  of  muscle,  such  certainty 
of  eye,  that  to  leap  from  one  projection  of  rock  to 
another,  to  spring  at  one  bound  over  ravines  and  deep 
cavities,  was  to  him  but  a  childish  sport.  In  these 
feats  he  took  pleasure  and  pride. 

9 


130  THE    SOLITARY    OF    JUAN    FERNANDEZ, 

Sometimes,  in  the  midst  of  his  flights  through  space, 
he  would  seize  a  bird  on  the  wing. 

The  goats  themselves  soon  lost  their  power  to  strug- 
gle against  such  a  combatant.  Notwithstanding  their 
number,  had  Selkirk  wished  it,  he  might  have  depopu- 
lated the  island.     He  was  careful  not  to  do  this. 

If  he  wished  to  procure  a  supply  of  provisions,  he 
directed  his  steps  towards  the  most  elevated  peaks  of 
the  mountain,  marked  his  game,  pursued  it,  caught  it 
by  the  horns,  or  felled  it  by  a  blow  from  his  stick ; 
after  which  his  knife-blade  did  its  office.  The  goat 
killed,  he  threw  it  on  his  shoulders,  and,  almost  as 
swiftly  as  before,  regained  the  cavernous  grotto  or 
leafy  tree,  in  the  shelter  of  which  he  could  this  day 
eat  and  sleep.  He  had  for  a  long  time  forsaken  his 
cabin,  which  was  too  far  distant  from  his  hunting- 
grounds. 

If  he  had  a  stock  of  provision  on  hand,  he  still  pur- 
sued the  goats  as  usual,  but  only  for  his  personal 
gratification.  If  he  caught  one,  he  contented  himself 
with  slitting  its  ear ;  this  was  his  seal,  the  mark  by 
which  he  recognized  his  free  flock.  During  the  last 
years  of  his  abode  in  the  island,  he  had  killed  or 
marked  thus  nearly  five  hundred. ^ 

In  the  natural  course  of  things,  as  his  physical 
powers  increased,  his  intelligence  became  enfeebled. 

■Necessity  had  at  first  aroused  his  industry,  for  all 


'  Long  after  his  departure  from  Juan  Fernandez,  the  ship's 
crews,  who  came  there  for  supplies,  or  the  pirates  who  took 
refuge  there,  found  goats  whose  ears  had  been  slit  by  Sel- 
kirk's knife. 


OR  THE  REAL  ROBINSON  CRUSOE.        131 

industiy  awakes  at  the  voice  of  want ;  but  his  own  had 
been  due  rather  to  his  recollections  than  to  his  in- 
genuity. He  thought  himself  a  creator,  he  was  only 
an  imitator. 

Whatever  may  have  been  said  by  those  who,  in  the 
pride  of  a  deceitful  philosophy,  have  wished  to  glorify 
the  power  of  the  solitary  man  —  if  the  latter,  supported 
by  certain  fortunate  circumstances,  can  remain  some 
time  in  a  state  hardly  endurable,  it  is  not  by  his  own 
strength,  but  by  means  which  society  itself  has  fur- 
nished. This  is  the  incontestable  truth,  from  which,  in 
his  pride,  Selkirk  had  turned  away. 

Deprived  of  exercise  and  of  aliment,  his  thoughts, 
no  longer  sustained  by  reading  the  Holy  Book,  were 
day  by  day  lost  in  a  chaos  of  dreams  and  reveries. 

A  prey  to  terrors  which  he  could  not  explain,  he 
feared  darkness,  he  trembled  at  the  slightest  sound  of 
the  wind  among  the  branches  ;  if  it  blew  violently,  he 
thought  the  trees  would  be  uprooted  and  crush  him  ;  if 
the  sea  roared,  he  trembled  at  the  idea  of  the  submer- 
sion of  his  entire  island. 

When  he  traversed  the  woods,  especially  if  the  heat 
was  great,  he  often  heard,  distinctly,  voices  which 
called  him  or  replied.  He  caught  entire  phrases ; 
others  remained  unfinished.  These  phrases,  con- 
nected neither  with  his  thoughts  nor  his  situation,  were 
strange  to  him.  Sometimes  he  even  recognized  the 
voice. 

Now  it  was  that  of  Catherine,  scolding  her  servants  ; 
now  that  of  Stradling,  of  Dampier,  or  one  of  his  col- 
lege tutors.  Once  he  heard  thus  the  voice  of  one  of 
his  classmates  whom  he  least  remembered  ;  at  another 


132  THE    SOLITARY    OF    JUAN    FERNANDEZ, 

time  it  was  that  of  his  old  admiral,  Rourke,  uttering 
the  words  of  command. 

If  he  attempted  to  raise  his  own  to  impose  silence 
on  these  choruses  of  demons  who  tormented  him,  it 
was  only  with  painful  efforts  that  he  could  succeed  in 
articulating  some  confused  syllables. 

He  no  longer  talked,  but  he  still  sang ;  he  sang  the 
monotonous  and  mournful  airs  of  his  psalms,  the  words 
of  which  he  had  totally  forgotten.  His  memory  by 
degrees  became  extinct.  Sometimes  even,  he  lost  the 
sentiment  of  his  identity ;  then,  at  least,  his  state  of 
isolation,  and  the  memory  of  his  misfortunes  ceased  to 
weigh  upon  him. 

He  nevertheless  remembered,  that  about  this  time, 
having  approached  Swordfish  Beach,  attracted  by  an 
unusual  noise  there,  he  had  seen  it  covered  with 
soldiers  and  sailors,  doubtless  Spaniards.  The  idea  of 
finding  himself  among  men,  had  suddenly  made  his 
heart  beat ;  but  when  he  descended  the  declivity  of  the 
hills  in  order  to  join  them,  several  shots  were  fired  ; 
the  balls  whistled  about  his  ears,  and,  filled  with  terror, 
he  had  fled. 

Once  more  he  had  found  himself  there,  but  without 
intending  it,  for  then  he  could  no  longer  find  his  way, 
by  the  points  of  the  compass,  through  the  woods  and 
valleys  leading  to  the  shore.  Ah  !  how  had  his  ancient 
abode  changed  its  aspect !  How  many  years  had 
rolled  away  since  he  lived  there !  The  little  gravelled 
paths,  which  conducted  to  the  grotto  and  the  mimosa, 
were  effaced ;  the  mimosa,  its  principal  branches 
broken,  seemed  buried  beneath  its  own  ruins  ;  of  his 
fish-pond,   his   bed    of    water-cresses,    not   a   vestige 


OR  THE  REAL  KOBINSON  CRUSOE.        ]33 

remained ;  his  grotto,  veiled,  hid  beneath  the  thick 
curtains  of  vines  and  heliotropes,  was  no  longer  visi- 
ble ;  his  cabin  had  ceased  to  exist,  —  overthrown, 
swept  away  doubtless,  by  a  hurricane,  as  his  inclosure 
had  been.  He  could  discover  the  spot  only  by  the  five 
myrtles,  which,  disembarrassed  of  their  roof  of  reeds 
and  their  plaster  walls,  had  resumed  their  natural  deco- 
rations, green  and  glossy,  as  if  the  hatchet  had  never 
touched  them.  At  their  feet  tufts  of  briers  and  other 
underbrush  had  grown  up,  as  formerly.  The  two 
streams,  the  Linnet  and  the  Stammerer^  alone  had  suf- 
fered no  change.  The  one  with  its  gentle  murmur, 
the  other  with  its  silvery  cascades,  after  having  em- 
braced the  lawn,  still  continued  to  flow  towards  the  sea, 
where  they  seemed  to  have  buried,  with  their  waves, 
the  memory  of  all  that  had  passed  on  their  borders. 

At  sight  of  his  shore,  which  seemed  to  have  retained 
no  vestige  of  himself,  Selkirk  remained  a  few  mo- 
ments, mournful  and  lost  in  his  incoherent  thoughts,  in 
the  midst  of  which  this  was  most  prominent: — Yet 
alive,  already  forgotten  by  the  world,  I  have  seen  my 
traces  disappear,  even  from  this  island  which  I  have 
so  long;  inhabited  ! 

A  rustling  was  heard  in  the  foliage  :  he  raised  his 
eyes,  expecting  to  see  Marimonda  swinging  on  the 
branch  of  a  tree.  Perceiving  nothing,  he  remembered 
that  Marimonda  reposed  at  the  Oasis ;  he  took  the 
road  from  the  mountain  which  led  thither,  but  when  he 
arrived  there,  when  he  was  before  her  tomb,  covered 
with  tall  grass,  he  had  forgotten  why  he  came. 

One  of  those  unaccountable  fits  of  terror,  which 
were  now  more  frequent  than  formerly,  seized  him, 


134  THE    SOLITARY    OF    JUAN    FERNANDEZ, 

and  he  precipitately  descended  the  mountain,  spring- 
ing from  peak  to  peak  along  the  rocks. 

The  religious  sentiment,  which  formerly  sustained 
Selkirk  in  his  trials,  was  not  entirely  extinct ;  but  it 
was  obscured  beneath  his  darkened  reason.  His 
religion  was  only  that  of  fear.  When  the  sea  was 
violently  agitated,  when  the  storm  howled,  he  pros- 
trated himself  with  clasped  hands ;  but  it  was  no 
longer  God  whom  he  implored ;  it  was  the  angry 
ocean,  the  thunder.  He  sought  to  disarm  the  genius 
of  evil.  The  lightning  having  one  day  struck,  not  far 
from  him,  a  date-palm,  he  worshipped  the  tree.  His 
perverted  faith  had  at  last  terminated  in  idolatry. 

This  was,  in  substance,  what  Alexander  Selkirk 
related  to  William  Dampier ;  what  solitude  had  done 
for  this  man,  still  so  young,  and  formerly  so  intelli- 
gent; this  was  what  had  become  of  the  despiser  of 
men,  when  left  to  his  own  reason. 

Dampier  listened  with  the  most  profound  attention, 
interrupting  him  in  his  narrative  only  by  exclamations 
of  interest  or  of  pity.  When  he  ceased  to  speak,  hold- 
ing out  his  hand  to  him,  he  said  : 

'  My  boy,  the  lesson  is  a  rude  one,  but  let  it  be 
profitable  to  you  ;  let  it  teach  you  that  emiui  on  board 
a  vessel,  even  with  a  Stradling,  is  better  than  e7i7iui  in 
a  "desert.  Undoubtedly  there  are  among  us  trouble- 
some, wicked  people,  but  fewer  wicked  than  crack- 
brained.  Believe,  then,  in  friendship,  especially  in 
mine  ;  from  this  day  it  is  yours,  on  the  faith  of  Wil- 
liam Dampier.' 

And  he  opened  his  arms  to  the  young  man,  who 
threw  himself  into  them. 


OR  THE  REAL  ROBINSON  CRUSOE.       135 

On  their  return  to  the  vessel,  Dampier  presented  to 
Selkirk  his  own  Bible.  The  latter  seized  it  with 
avidity,  and,  after  having  turned  over  its  leaves  as  if  to 
find  a  text  which  presented  itself  to  his  mind,  read 
aloud  the  following  passage  : 

'  He  was  driven  from  the  sons  of  men  ;  and  his 
heart  was  made  like  the  beasts,  and  his  dwelling  was 
with  the  wild  asses  ;  they  fed  him  with  grass  like  oxen, 
and  his  body  was  wet  with  the  dew  of  heaven.'  — 
Daniel  v.  21. 


136  THE    SOLITARY    OF    JUAN    FERNANDEZ, 


CONCLUSION. 

Capt.  Rogers,  in  his  turn,  learned  the  misfortunes 
of  Selkirk  and  became  attached  to  him ;  from  this  mo- 
ment, the  sailors  themselves  showed  him  great  defer- 
ence ;  he  was  known  among  them  by  the  name  of  the 
governor^  and  this  title  clung  to  him. 

To  do  the  honors  of  his  island,  the  governor  one 
day  gave  to  the  crews  of  the  two  vessels,  the  spectacle 
of  one  of  his  former  hunts.  Resuming  his  ancient 
costume,  he  returned  to  the  high  mountains,  where, 
before  their  eyes,  he  started  a  goat,  and  darting  in 
pursuit  of  it,  over' a  thousand  cliffs,  sometimes  clearing 
frightful  abysses,  by  means  of  a  vine  which  he  seized 
on  liis  passage,  —  this  method  he  owed  to  Marimonda, 
—  he  succeeded  in  forcing  his  game  to  the  hills  of  the 
shore.  Arrived  there,  exhausted,  panting,  drawing 
itself  up  like  a  stag  at  bay,  the  goat  stopped  short. 
Selkirk  took  it  living  on  his  shoulders,  and  presented  it 
to  Capt.  Rogers.     Its  ear  was  already  slit. 

^y  way  of  thanks,  the  captain  announced  that  he 
might  henceforth  be  connected  with  the  expedition, 
with  his  old  rank  of  mate,  which  was  restored  to  him. 
For  this  favor  Selkirk  was  indebted  to  the  solicitations 
of  Dam  pier. 

In  the  same  vessel  with  Dampier,  he  made  another 
three   years'  voyage,  visited  Mexico,  California,  and 


OR  THE  REAL  ROBINSON  CRUSOE.        137 

the  greater  part  of  North  America  ;  after  which,  still 
in  company  with  Dampier,  and  possessor  of  a  pretty 
fortune,  he  returned  to  England,  where  the  recital  of 
his  adventures,  already  made  public,  secured  him  the 
most  honorable  patronage  and  friendship.  Among  his 
friends,  may  be  reckoned  Steele,  the  co-laborer,  the 
rival  of  Addison,  who  consecrated  a  long  chapter  to 
him  in  his  publication  of  the  Tatler. 

Selkirk  did  not  fail  to  visit  Scotland.  Passing 
through  St.  Andrew,  could  he  help  experiencing  anew 
the  desire  to  see  his  old  friend  pretty  Kitty  ?  Once 
more  he  appeared  before  the  bar  of  the  Royal  Salmon. 
This  time,  on  meeting,  Selkirk  and  Catherine  both 
experienced  a  sentiment  of  painful  surprise.  The 
latter,  stouter  and  fuller  than  ever,  fat  and  red-faced, 
touched  the  extreme  limit  of  her  fourth  and  last  youth  ; 
the  solitary  of  Juan  Fernandez,  with  his  gray  hair,  his 
copper  complexion,  could  scarcely  recall  to  the  re- 
spectable hostess  of  the  tavern  the  elegant  pilot  of  the 
royal  navy,  still  less  the  pale  and  blond  student,  of 
whom  she  had  been,  eighteen  years  before,  the  first 
and  only  love. 

'  Is  it  indeed  you,  my  poor  Sandy,'  said  she,  with  an 
accent  of  pity  ;  '  I  thought  you  were  dead.' 

'  I  have  been  nearly  so,  indeed,  and  a  long  time 
ago,  Kitty.     But  who  has  told  you  of  me  ?  ' 

*  Alas  !  It  was  my  husband  himself.' 

'  You  arc  married  then,  Catherine.  So  much  the 
better.' 

'  So  much  the  worse  rather,  my  friend  ;  for,  would 
you  believe  it,  the  old  monster,  bent  double  as  he  is 
with  age  and  rheumatism,  was  bright  enough  to  dupe 


138  THE    SOLITARY    OF    JUAN    FERNANDEZ, 

me  finely  ;  to  dupe  me  twice.  In  the  first  place,  by 
making  me  believe  you  were  dead  when  you  were 
not.  But  he  well  knew,  the  cheat,  that  if  I  refused 
him  once,  it  was  because  my  views  were  turned  in 
your  direction.' 

Selkirk  made  a  movement  which  escaped  Cathe- 
rine ;  she  continued  : 

'  His  second  deception  was  to  arrive  here  in  tri- 
umph, in  the  midst  of  the  cries  of  joy  and  embraces 
of  the  Sea- Dogs  and  Old  Pilots.  One  would  have 
thought  he  had  in  his  pockets  all  the  mines  of  Guinea 
and  Peru.  He  did  not  say  so,  but  I  thought  it  could 
not  be  otherwise  ;  and  I  married  him,  since  I  believed 
you  no  longer  living.  His  trick  having  succeeded,  he 
then  told  me  of  his  shipwreck,  his  complete  ruin.  Ah  ! 
with  what  a  good  heart  would  I  have  sent  him  pack- 
ing !  But  it  was  too  late,  and  it  became  necessary 
that  the  Royal  Salmon,  founded  by  the  honorable 
Andrew  Felton,  should  furnish  subsistence  for  two  ; 
and  this  is  the  reason  why,  Mr.  Selkirk,  you  find  me 
still  here,  a  prisoner  in  my  bar,  and  cursing  all  the 
captains  who  make  the  tour  of  the  world  only  to  come 
afterwards  and  impose  upon  poor  and  inexperienced 
young  girls !  ' 

Selkirk  had  not  at  first  understood  the  lamentations 
of  Catherine  :  but  a  twilio-ht  commenced  to  dawn  in 
his  ideas  ;  he  divined  that  his  name  had  been  used  for 
an  act  of  baseness  ;  and,  without  being  able  to  account 
for  it,  he  felt  the  return  of  an  old  leaven  of  spite,  an 
old  hatred  revived. 

'  Who  is  your  husband  ?  What  is  his  name  ?  '  asked 
he,  in  a  loud  voice  and  with  a  tone  of  authority. 


OR  THE  REAL  ROBINSON  CRUSOE.        139 

'  Do  not  grow  angry,  Sandy  ?  Do  not  seek  a  quar- 
rel with  him  now.  What  is  done,  is  done  ;  I  am  his 
wife,  do  you  understand  ?  It  is  of  no  use  to  recall  the 
past.' 

'  And  who  thinks  of  recalling  it  ?  I  simply  asked 
you  who  he  was  ? ' 

'  You  will  be  prudent ;  you  promise  me  ?  Well ! 
do  you  see  him  yonder,  in  the  second  stall,  at  the 
same  place  he  formerly  occupied  ?  He  has  just  poured 
out  some  gin  to  those  sailors,  and  is  drinking  with  them. 
It  is  he  who  is  standing  up  with  an  apron  on.' 

*■  Stradling  ! '  exclaimed  Selkirk,  with  sparkling  eyes. 
But  at  the  sight  of  this  apron,  finding  his  old  captain 
become  a  waiter,  his  hatred  and  projects  of  vengeance 
were  suddenly  extinguished. 

Alexander  Selkirk  returned  to  England  in  1712. 
The  history  of  his  captivity  in  the  Island  of  Juan  Fer- 
nandez had  appeared  in  the  papers ;  several  apoc- 
ryphal relations  had  been  already  published,  when 
in  1717,  Daniel  De  Foe  published  his  RoMnson 
Crusoe. 

He  is  really  the  same  personage  ;  but  in  this  lat- 
ter version,  the  Island  of  Juan  Fernandez,  in  spite  of 
distance  and  geographical  impossibilities,  is  peopled 
with  savage  Caribs ;  Marimonda  is  transformed  into 
the  simple  Friday ;  history  is  turned  into  romance, 
but  this  romance  is. elevated  to  all  the  dignity  of  a 
philosophical  treatise. 

Rendering  full  justice  to  the  merit  of  the  writer,  we 
must  nevertheless  acknowledge  that  he  has  completely 
altered,  in  a  mental  view,  the  physiognomy  of  his 
model.     Robinson  is  not  a  man  suffering  entire  isola- 


140  THE    SOLITARY    OF   JUAN    FERNANDEZ, 

tion ;  he  has  a  companion,  and  the  savages  are  inces- 
santly making  inroads  around  him.  It  is  the  European 
developing  the  resources  of  his  industry,  to  contend 
at  once  with  an  unproductive  Jand  and  the  dangers 
created  by  his  enemies. 

Selkirk  has  no  enemies  to  repulse,  and  he  inhabits 
a  fruitful  country.  He  needs,  before  every  thing  else, 
the  presence  of  man,  one  of  those  fraternal  affections 
in  which  he  refuses  to  believe.  His  sufferings  origi- 
nate in  his  very  solitude.  In  solitude,  Robinson  im- 
proves and  perfects  himself;  Selkirk,  at  first  as  full 
of  resources  as  he,  ends  by  becoming  discouraged 
and  brutified. 

Which  of  the  two  is  most  true  to  nature  ? 

The  first  is  an  ideal  being,  for  in  no  quarter  of  the 
globe  has  there  ever  been  found  one  analogous  to  the 
Robinson  of  De  Foe ;  the  other,  on  the  contrary,  is 
to  be  met  with  every  where,  denying  the  dependence 
of  an  isolated  individual ;  but  this  dependence,  even  in 
the  midst  of  a  prodigal  nature,  if  it  is  not  to  the  honor 
of  man,  is  to  the  honor  of  society  at  large. 

Notwithstanding  all  that  has  been  said,  the  solitary 
is  a  man  imbruted,  vegetating,  deprived  of  his  crown. 
'  Solitude  is  sweet  only  in  the  vicinity  of  great  cities.' ^ 
By  an  admirable  decree  of  Providence,  the  isolated 
being  is  an  imperfect  being ;  man  is  completed  by 
man.*" 

Notwithstanding  the  false  maxims  of  a  deceitful 
philosophy,  it  is  to  the  social  state  that  we  owe,  from 

'  '  Bernardin  de  St.  Pierre.  Seneca  had  said:  Miscerda  et 
aUernanda  sunt  solitudo  et  frequentia. 


OR  THE  REAL  ROBINSON  CRUSOE.        141 

the  greatest  to  the  least,  the  courage  which  animates 
and  sustains  us ;  God  has  created  us  to  live  there  and 
to  love  one  another  ;  it  is  for  this  reason  that  selfishness 
is  a  shameful  vice,  a  crime  !  It  is,  so  to  speak,  an 
infringement  of  one  of  the  great  laws  of  Nature. 


THE    END. 


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